Good news, horror fans: After a very long development process, it looks like a big-screen adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal horror novel It is finally going to happen. Vulture spoke with the project’s producer Dan Lin last night at an awards-season party celebrating The Lego Movie (which Lin also produced), and he confirmed that It will be his next live-action movie, with True Detective helmer Cary Fukunaga confirmed to direct. “The idea is to start official prep in March for a summer shoot,†said Lin. “Cary likes to develop things for a while, and we’ve been with this for about three or four years, so we’re super excited that he stayed with it. You guys are gonna be really excited.â€
That’s an understatement: Aside from a 1990 ABC TV miniseries boasting a memorable performance from Tim Curry as the evil clown Pennywise (a human guise for the book’s titular evil being), It has never quite gotten the cinematic treatment the story deserves, and Lin says his big plan is to split King’s sprawling novel into two movies. “The book is so epic that we couldn’t tell it all in one movie and service the characters with enough depth,†explained Lin; the first film, then, will be a coming-of-age story about the children tormented by It, while the second will skip ahead in time as those same characters band together to continue the fight as adults. Though Fukunaga is only committed to directing the first film, Lin says the in-demand helmer is currently closing a deal to co-write the second.
And no one is more excited about the project’s renewed movement than It’s author. “The most important thing is that Stephen King gave us his blessing,†said Lin. “We didn’t want to make this unless he felt it was the right way to go, and when we sent him 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.â€