UPDATE: The original source updated their information, reporting that the film will indeed remain at New Line Cinema with no firm determination on location or shooting schedule. Go figure.
This past weekend we were hit with some pretty tough news regarding the new adaptation of Stephen King’s IT, as it was announced that True Detective’s Cary Fukunaga dropped out of the project due to what sounded like creative differences—catch up on all of that right HERE if you’re out of the loop. The big question following his departure was what would come of the film now that its major creative driving force is gone?
Today, Bloody Disgusting reports that despite the recent doom and gloom surrounding the project, a source tells them the film is heading back to Warner Bros. (it was originally set up at New Line), and that the film will be shooting in New York. What’s interesting about that, though, is that the initial reports of Fukunaga’s exit seemed like it had a lot to do with him wanting to film it in New York but the studio had other ideas thanks to recent budget cuts. Odd.
The site goes on to say that Warner Bros. is expected to lock in on a new director in the coming weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see who they get to replace a guy like Fukunaga. While I’m glad that IT is still alive and breathing (so far), a lot of the excitement came from Fukunaga’s desire to get the film made and his passion for the project. With that lost, let’s hope the studio finds a fitting replacement because it sounds like they’ll be using the existing scripts.
There’s no word on whether or not Will Poulter is still playing the titular Pennywise, so we’ll have to keep a close eye on that as this moves forward.