Duffer Brothers Created Stranger Things After Being Turned Down for Stephen King’s It
John Squires
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There are many things from the past that Netflix’s “Stranger Things” reminded us of, and one of the big ones was of course Stephen King’s It. The series is, in some ways, a pseudo-adaptation of King’s novel, so it should probably come as no surprise that its creators had originally wanted to, well, adapt It!
Speaking with THR, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer just revealed that creating “Stranger Things” was, essentially, a direct response to their failed attempt at adapting King’s novel.
“We asked, and that’s why we ended up doing this, because we’d asked Warner Brothers,” said Matt Duffer. “I was like, ‘Please,’ and they were like, ‘No.’ This was before Cary Fukunaga. This was a long time ago.”
“When we asked to do it was before, then [Fukunaga] got on it afterwards because he’s established,” added Ross Duffer. “So, he got on it, and we were excited just because we’re huge fans of what he does, and [he’s] one of the few people who hasn’t made a bad movie. So, that was exciting to us, but also, we were seeing trailers for ‘True Detective’; we’re like, ‘I kind of want to see. How do you do It in two hours? Even if you’re separating the kids, how do you do that right?’ You don’t really fall in love with them the same way you’re going to when I read that book.”
“There were a lot of different discussions we were having around this time, and a lot of it centered around how exciting TV was becoming and how cinematic it was,” Ross continued. “Certainly one of those discussions brought us back to It and how we wish it was an eight- or ten-hour miniseries.”
Andy Muschietti (Mama) eventually replaced Cary Fukunaga on the upcoming two-part It adaptation, and the Duffer Brothers of course went on to create their own loving tribute to, in large part, Stephen King. Proof that sometimes, things work out exactly as they’re supposed to!
Today is the last day to sign up for the Predator Box of Dread and be in the running to win a Stranger Things Box of Dread Seventh Box in August 2016. Only one Box of Dread acolyte will receive it in the mail.
Become a Box of Dread acolyte by 11:59pm ET today, August 9th to be eligible!
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