Stephen King’s It Afloat Again With Mama Director
Steve Barton
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Man, talk about ups and down, huh? A few weeks ago talk was that with the exit of “True Detective” Cary Fukunaga, the new film adaptation of Stephen King’s It was as good as dead. But again it floats. We all float down here, you know.
Variety reports that New Line’s feature adaptation of It has gained a new director — Andy Muschietti, who directed 2013’s Mama. Muschietti is in talks to replace Fukunaga, who dropped out of the project over the Memorial Day weekend over budget issues.
Seth Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg are producing through their KatzSmith banner while Dan Lin and Roy Lee are also producing. Barbara Muschietti, sister of Andy Muscietti, is also expected to be a producer on the project.
King’s massive 1986 novel — with 1,136 pages in its original publication — was adapted as a TV miniseries in 1991 starring the late John Ritter and Tim Curry. The story follows seven outcast children who come together over summer break to take on a monster troubling their town, only to face their own personal demons in the process.
It is a shapeshifting villain who mostly appears in the form of a clown named Pennywise to attract young children. The entity first appears in 1957 in the town of Derry, Maine.
Mama starred Jessica Chastain and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and was a surprise success with worldwide grosses of nearly $150 million on a $15 million budget. Muschietti directed from his own script, based on his 2008 Argentine short film of the same name.
Jon Silk is executive producing It. Richard Brener, Walter Hamada, and Dave Neustadter are overseeing for New Line while Niija Kuykendall is overseeing for Warner Bros.
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