It looks like New Line could have a new director to take us into the haunted town of Derry. A little less than two months ago, Cary Fukunaga departed the adaptation of Stephen King's IT, and now Mama director Andy Muschietti is in talks to helm the project.
The news of Muschietti's negotiations for the director's chair on IT comes from The Hollywood Reporter. Originally written as a two-part adaptation by Fukunaga and Chase Palmer, the IT adaptation's script is now planned to be altered to fit Muschietti's ultimate version of the epic 1986 novel. This new adaptation of IT is still expected to comprise two films.
Dan Lin, Roy Lee, Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg are still on board to produce the project, with Andy's collaborator Barbara Muschietti anticipated to also join the producing front.
On the film's casting side, it's unknown if Will Poulter will be lined up for the role of Pennywise the clown. At one point, he was in negotiations to star as the character once played by Tim Curry (in the 1990 IT miniseries), but Poulter's involvement is currently a question mark. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for further updates.
Andy Muschietti is also lined up to helm an adaptation of another Stephen King story—the chilling futuristic short tale "The Jaunt." Andy was expected to direct "The Jaunt" adaptation for Plan B, who optioned the short work under King's "one dollar for 90 days" rule. Andy was also anticipated to pen the adaptation's screenplay with Barbara, but with IT now on his plate, his involvement with "The Jaunt" film could be affected.
For those unfamiliar with IT, here's the synopsis of King's masterpiece:
“A promise made twenty-eight years ago calls seven adults to reunite in Derry, Maine, where as teenagers they battled an evil creature that preyed on the city’s children. Unsure that their Losers Club had vanquished the creature all those years ago, the seven had vowed to return to Derry if IT should ever reappear. Now, children are being murdered again and their repressed memories of that summer return as they prepare to do battle with the monster lurking in Derry’s sewers once more.”
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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