Now we Know why Cary Fukunaga Left His IT Adaptation

Since departing True Detective after season one — a move that was planned from the outset — director Cary Fukunaga has been very busy. His new movie, Beasts of No Nation comes to Netflix and theaters in October, and he was working on a new adaptation of Stephen King’s magical-phantom-killer clown story, IT. He was working on it right up until the moment he wasn’t.

IT seemed like something of a dream project for Fukunaga, so it was surprising that he left. According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly earlier in August, the reasons for leaving were fairly pedestrian:

"“Ultimately, we and New Line have to agree on the kind of movie we want to make, and we just wanted to make different movies…It’s like a relationship: you can try to make the other person who you want them to be, but it’s impossible really to change. You just have to work.”"

That’s deep. And disappointing. He also said he and Chase Palmer had been working on the script for “probably three years.” Ouch. From past interviews, it sounded like Cary Fukunaga was going for some true terror. Combined with the fact that he envisioned two movies, it’s not too difficult to imagine where he and New Line would have clashed.

IT is moving forward regardless, helmed by Andy Muschietti, the director of Mama. Under Cary Fukunaga’s direction, it’s possible that New Line didn’t see IT as being a popular or profitable endeavor. We’ll have to wait see if Muschietti will be able to create something more palatable for the studio.

Next: Learn some new True Detective trivia with 'You Think You Know TV?'

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