Since director Andy Muschietti's It floated into theaters in September of 2017, horror
movie fans the world over have learned everything there is to know about the film.
But something fans may not know is the real reason why the original director of It, Emmy
Award winner Cary Fukunaga, left the project.
Chatting with GQ in a recent interview, Fukunaga discussed the true motivation behind his decision
to step away from It after developing the film for three years.
The filmmaker, who also wrote the script for his adaptation of the Stephen King classic,
explained that Warner Bros. brass were worried he might start behaving erratically or that
he wouldn't work well with others.
To this day, Fukunaga still doesn't understand why the studio began treating him differently
just two weeks ahead of when his version of It was meant to get behind cameras.
He told GQ:
"I think it was fear on their part, that they couldn't control me.
[...] They thought they couldn't control me."
He continued, adding that the studio executives were completely wrong to assume the worst
about him, as he's never been one to go off the rails when directing.
Fukunaga went on to explain:
"I would have been a total collaborator.
That was the kind of ridiculous part.
It was just more a perception.
I have never seen a note and been like, 'F--- you guys.
No way.'
It's always been a conversation."
Getting candid, Fukunaga later admitted that he does, quote, "have a tendency to make things
harder than they need to be."
But even then, Fukunaga doesn't believe himself to be difficult, stubborn, or uncooperative.
Fukunaga brought up his fourth feature film, Beasts of No Nation, as an example, saying:
"I don't think I've ever been able to make something uncompromising.
Like, someone commented on Beasts, 'Oh, how did it feel to make a movie that's uncompromising?'
Like, uncompromising?
I had to rewrite my entire third act 'cause we didn't have the money to finish the film.
We compromise all over the place."
Fukunaga's name was first attached to It in 2012.
In June of that year, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that the adaptation would be split
into two parts, and that Fukunaga had climbed aboard the project as director and co-writer
alongside Chase Palmer.
When 2014 rolled around, It had moved to Warner Bros.'
New Line Cinema Division and producer Dan Lin revealed that Fukunaga would only direct
the first film in the two-part feature.
At that time, Lin also told Vulture that It author Stephen King gave the team "his blessing,"
indicating that things were going swimmingly behind the scenes.
Lin said:
"We didn't want to make this unless he felt it was the right way to go, and when we sent
[King] the script, the response that Cary got back was, 'Go with God, please!
This is the version the studio should make.'
So that was really gratifying."
The project continued smoothly, with Fukunaga, Lin, and Palmer later tapping The Maze Runner
franchise star Will Poulter to play Pennywise, the demonic entity Bill Skarsgård wound up
playing in Muschietti's film.
"Georgie, meet Pennywise.”
But just three weeks after word of Poulter's casting went public in early May of 2015,
Fukunaga exited It.
On May 25th, 2015, TheWrap reported that "Fukunaga repeatedly clashed with the studio and did
not want to compromise his artistic vision in the wake of budget cuts that were recently
demanded by New Line, which greenlit the first film at $30 million."
A few months later, Fukunaga opened up about the situation, explaining in a statement obtained
by Variety that he was "trying to make an unconventional horror film" that "didn't fit
into the algorithm" of what Warner Bros. could spend to make It and what the studio would
earn back once the film was released.
According to Fukunaga:
"In the first movie, what I was trying to do was an elevated horror film with actual
characters.
They didn't want any characters.
They wanted archetypes and scares.
I wrote the script.
They wanted me to make a much more inoffensive, conventional script.
But I don't think you can do proper Stephen King and make it inoffensive.
Every little thing was being rejected and asked for changes.
Our conversations weren't dramatic.
It was just quietly acrimonious.
We didn't want to make the same movie."
It wasn't long after Fukunaga's departure that Warner Bros. hired Mama filmmaker Andy
Muschietti to take his place.
The film went on to earn over $700 million against its reported $35 million production
budget when it debuted on September 8th, 2017.
By year's end, critics and fans alike agreed that It had the it factor to become one of
the best films of 2017.
While Fukunaga never got to realize his dream of adapting It for the silver screen, he hasn't
been down on his luck or without work in the time since.
In 2018, TNT rolled out The Alienist, the 10-episode period drama series that Fukunaga
wrote and executive produced.
He's also been hard at work on Netflix's Maniac, a dark comedy miniseries starring Jonah Hill
and Emma Stone.
Sounds like he's still floating just fine.
"We all float down here, yes we do."