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Original IT Director Reveals Why He Left Stephen King Project


There is little doubt that It: Chapter One and its sequel were both huge box office hits. However, there was a time when the project was stuck in production hell despite having Cary Fukunaga confirmed as its director. So why did Fukunaga leave the Stephen King movie? The No Time to Die director has opened up about his departure and the real reason why it simply didn't work out for him.

Back in 2012, it was confirmed that Fukunaga will helm the first movie. By 2015, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch star Will Poulter was cast as Pennywise but Fukunaga soon left the project citing creative differences with New Line Cinema. (Poulter also left the film after Andy Muschietti was confirmed as the new director).

But what exactly was so different about Fukunaga's version from what the studio wanted? The filmmaker explained to The Hollywood Reporter that things changed when IT was moved over from Warner Bros. to New Line Cinema.

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"I was on that for four or five years with Warners and then it got moved to New Line, right before we were about to go into production," Fukunaga said. "I think New Line's view of what they wanted and my view of what I wanted were very different."

He further explained that New Line Cinema had other plans for the project.

"I wanted to do a drama with horror elements, more like The Shining. I think they wanted to do something more [pure horror] like Annabelle [from the Conjuring films]. That was essentially the disconnect," Fukunaga stated.

It's interesting to know that IT could have been very different compared to what Muschietti came up with. Still, there is no denying the box office success of the movies so perhaps it worked out for New Line Cinema in the end.

In the meantime, Fukunaga went on to direct a James Bond film. His latest project No Time To Die will be Daniel Craig's final outing as 007 and is set to premiere on October 8, 2021.

Related: Dune and No Time To Die Set For Chinese Releases This October

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