After several false starts in recent years, Stephen King's "It" is finally headed to the big screen. Collider has learned that New Line is finally moving forward and will begin filming sometime this year. This is the second high profile King adaptation that is currently in the works.
A big screen version of King's iconic horror novel was originally in the works with "True Detective" director Cary Fukunaga at the helm. However, the director ran into creative differences with the studio and departed the project. Now, "Mama" director Andy Muscietti has taken over and the project. Speaking with Collider, producer Roy Lee confirmed that Fukunaga and Chase Palmer's original script has been rewritten.
"it will hopefully be shooting later this year," he said. "We just got the California tax credit...Gary Doberman wrote the most recent draft working with Andy Muscetti, so it's being envisioned as two movies."
Fukunaga had brought the two-movie plan to New Line with the first film following the main characters as children and the second checking back in on them as adults. King's book shifts between the two timelines, and Lee noted that once filming is complete, the two stories could be cut together in a fashion that more resembles King's narrative.
"It is very close to the source material in one way but very different if you look at it as a literary piece of work...We're taking it and making the movie from the point of view of the kids, and then making another movie from the point of view of the adults, that could potentially then be cut together like the novel. But it's gonna be a really fun way of making this movie."
Fans of King's bloody, violent and terrifying novel will be happy to hear that the studio has no plans to water the movie down for box office purposes. They are going with a hard R rating.
Though it would have been great to see Fukunaga's unique take on the material, we're still happy that "It" is finally going to get the big screen treatment that it deserves. We'll keep you posted as more details emerge.
