We Finally Know Why Cary Fukunaga Didn't Direct It
Andrés Muschietti's 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's "It" was a big deal and then some. The movie — which was based on the 1986 novel of the same name — set records upon the first weekend of its release and subsequently went on to become the highest-grossing horror film of all time (per The Numbers). The story also turned the evil, child-eating, alien clown Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) into even more of a pop culture sensation than he was before, inspiring countless Halloween costumes, memes, pranks, and thirst tweets (via BuzzFeed) as a result. Only on the internet, right?
Suffice to say, both "It" and its follow-up, "It: Chapter Two" worked out well for everyone involved in the end. Prior to Muschietti's appointment, though, New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. had handed the writing and directing reins to Cary Fukunaga, who was hot off the heels of "True Detective" at the time. However, the filmmaker ended up parting ways with the project during its development stages, leaving fans to wonder what could have been.
Now, Fukunaga – while promoting his newest movie, the James Bond flick "No Time to Die" – has opened up in more detail about what really went down.
Cary Fukunaga and New Line Cinema had different ideas for It
By this point, it has been well documented how Cary Fukunaga stepped away from "It" due to creative differences with the studio (via The Wrap). Fukunaga still was given screenplay credit on the finished version of "It," but until now, the precise nature of the artistic disputes he had with the studio was kept close to the vest, other than various rumors or vague statements made over the past few years.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the "No Time to Die" director revealed that he didn't want to make a typical jump scare-laden horror movie.
"I think New Line's view of what they wanted and my view of what I wanted were very different," Fukunaga recalled. "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 went on to say that the situation didn't lead to any fall outs. In fact, he continues to collaborate with "It" producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee. "If I was a difficult director, they wouldn't necessarily want to be working with me," he added.