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Director Cary Fukunaga exits ‘It’ film adaptation

Cary Fukunaga won't direct a two-part adaptation of Stephen King's "It."

Cary Fukunaga won’t direct a two-part adaptation of Stephen King’s “It.”

(Brad Barket / Getty Images)
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Cary Fukunaga is out of “It.”

The “Sin Nombre” and “True Detective” director has exited New Line Cinema’s two-part film adaptation of Stephen King’s “It” for budgetary and creative reasons, The Times has confirmed. The Wrap first reported the news.

Based on King’s lengthy horror novel, “It” was to span a pair of movies about misfit teens who come together to vanquish an evil creature one summer and then have to resume the battle as adults when the creature reawakens.

The production had been slated to start shooting in the coming weeks, but it is now unclear whether New Line will try to find a replacement immediately or hit the pause button and devise a new approach to the project.

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According to trade reports, Fukunaga and New Line clashed over budgets and the director’s desire to make two movies rather than one. The first film was reportedly greenlit at $30 million, with the second to have a higher budget.

“It” had been a passion project for Fukunaga, a longtime fan of the book who boarded the film in 2012, when it was set up at New Line’s parent company, Warner Bros. Fukunaga co-wrote scripts for the two “It” movies with Chase Palmer and was looking to cast “We’re the Millers” star Will Poulter as the titular villain.

Fukunaga’s other upcoming projects include an untitled father-son drama for A24 and a TV series based on Caleb Carr’s novel “The Alienist.”

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