Director Cary Fukunaga (JANE EYRE, SIN NOMBRE) has been attached to a feature-film adaptation of Stephen King's IT for over 2 years now and much another long gestating Stephen King project (THE STAND), it almost feels like a pipe dream. Thankfully, it appears as if the wheels are finally in motion on the story of a group of friends who encounter a demon who takes the form of a clown. Producer Dan Lin recently spoke up about the adaptation that's in the works and that it will be his next live-action film.
Regarding the plans to shoot IT:
The idea is to start official prep in March for a summer shoot. Cary likes to develop things for a while, and we’ve been with this for about three or four years, so we’re super excited that he stayed with it. You guys are gonna be really excited.
Stephen King's opinion on the new script:
The most important thing is that Stephen King gave us his blessing. We didn’t want to make this unless he felt it was the right way to go, and when we sent him the script, the response that Cary got back was, ‘Go with God, please! This is the version the studio should make.’ So that was really gratifying.
It's worth nothing that Fukunaga is currently not contractually obliged to direct the second film, although Lin mentioned that they were working on getting him signed as that's been the plan all along. Frankly, I'd find it pretty hard to dive into the It story and not want to finish it out, but perhaps Fukunaga wants to see how the experience on the first film will fare. It's been previously mentioned that the first film would aim for a GOONIES vibe mixed with the horror elements, and that sounds great by me. If anything, Fukunaga has only received more praise from his recent work (True Detective) so I don't think anyone will have any complaints about the direction he wants to take.
The first IT film is scheduled to shoot in the summer of 2015.