It seems like the director of True Detective is moving on from yet another project.
The Wrap reported on Monday that Cary Fukunaga, known for directing the entire first season of the acclaimed HBO crime series, is out as the director of an adaptation of author Stephen King’s It. The film was supposed to begin production this summer, and has been pushed back indefinitely.
According to the site, 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. The situation came to a head over Memorial Day weekend, leading to Fukunaga’s abrupt exit from the ambitious project.
Another source added that New Line was getting cold feet about the project in the wake of the less-than-stellar opening of Poltergeist, which featured a clown in its marketing materials.
Fukunaga has been a hot property since True Detective and was planning on making the film a two-part project, the first would feature the protagonists as children, while the second would focus on the characters as adults. There was also an actor attached to the lead role with We’re the Millers and The Maze Runner star Will Poulter in talks for the lead.
The director has a number of projects on his plate with his next film, Beasts of No Nation, starring Idris Elba, coming out later this year on Netflix.