Stephen King’s ‘It’ Will Begin Filming This Year And Will Be R-Rated Horror
One of the scariest horror movies in history is going to get the remake treatment, and it appears as if they are actually going through with it this time. Stephen King’s It has been rumored to be remade for a while now, but it is definitely going to happen. Not only will the film adaptation of the novel begin this year, but it’s going to receive an R-rating to boot.
A few years ago, there was talk of the 1990 television miniseries being remade by director Cary Fukunaga. Not only would he direct it, but he was going to co-write it as well and things were actually on the fast-track to being done. There was even talk of Will Poulter starring in the film as the evil and demented Pennywise the clown.
All of a sudden, Fukunaga departed the project due to creative differences with the studio, and it appeared the project was dead. Well, not only is it not dead, but Collider is reporting that Andy Muscietti has signed on to direct it and filming will begin sometime later this year.
Also, it’s going to be big enough and incorporate enough of King’s story to be broken into two films.
“It will hopefully be shooting later this year. We just got the California tax credit… Gary Doberman wrote the most recent draft working with Andy Muscetti, so it’s being envisioned as two movies.”
The original miniseries from 1990 was also split into two films with total running time coming in at just over three hours.
Stephen King’s It tells the tale of a group of friends as children who band together to face their greatest fears which are melded into the form of Pennywise. That’s part one. Part two then picks up with the group of friends as adults having to fend off Pennywise once again.
That’s how the television film told it, but King’s book jumps back and forth. Lee said that he is planning on bringing forth a project which would essentially make a straightforward film adaptation of King’s novel. A novel which has scared millions of readers.
“It is very close to the source material in one way but very different if you look at it as a literary piece of work… We’re taking it and making the movie from the point of view of the kids, and then making another movie from the point of view of the adults, that could potentially then be cut together like the novel. But it’s gonna be a really fun way of making this movie.”
It’s not known who will star in the new version of Stephen King’s It, but the original had a stellar cast full of stars. Between the child and adult stars, It featured Seth Green, John Ritter, Jonathan Brandis, Richard Masur, Harry Anderson, and Tim Curry who fantastically played Pennywise.
“We are very close to turning in the final draft of the script. It’s mainly working on it for budgeting purposes to make it fit within the budget that we have.”
The final thing that needs to be done is obviously getting the budget worked out, but Roy Lee hopes that won’t prove too difficult. From that point, it will be making the right casting choices and getting production started. One can only imagine who will be tasked with bringing Pennywise to life again and competing with the amazing job that Tim Curry did in 1990.
Stephen King’s It is going to have a remake, but it at least looks like it is going to be done right and with the proper amount of respect. With an R-rating, it’s surely going to bring about the type of horror that King originally brought forth and make sure that fears are realized.
[Image by Warner Bros.]
