Riding high on the success of True Detective, Cary Fukunaga is currently in the middle of pre-production on his next project, a two part big screen adaption of Stephen King’s IT, already brought to the small screen as a 1990’s miniseries. According to Variety, the first piece of casting has been finalised, with We’re The Miller’s and The Maze Runner’s Will Poulter singing on the dotted line to play the star of the show Pennywise, a terrifying monster who takes the form of a clown to lure children to their deaths. It’s a very interesting choice for a role that was made iconic by Tim Curry in the original version. With the likes of the much older Ben Mendelsohn (Black Sea) and Mark Rylance (The Gunman) eyed for the role, word has it that New Line Cinema wanted to go younger, and Funkunaga couldn’t help but be blown away by Poulter’s performance. All we know at this stage is that his take on the character will definitely be very different from Curry’s.
The story of IT spans several decades so the first movie will follow our yet to be cast protagonist’s run ins with Pennywise as children, while the second, which Fukunaga has not signed on for, will follow them as adults returning to their home town to deal with the killer clown once and for all. Shooting is expected to begin filming this Summer, so expect to hear more on the project in the coming months.
