I've never really understood people who were scared of clowns. Adorable, hilarious, joyful clowns. They exist only to make us laugh. However, those who are terrified of Pennywise, the razor fanged demon clown from Stephen King's 1986 horror novel, It, can totally be sympathized with. The book has been brought to the small screen back in 1990, and it was one of the few King TV adaptations that did a great job of capturing the source material. Pennywise certainly haunted my nightmares for months afterwards.
With a (sort of) failed adaptation of The Dark Tower in the rear view mirror, and Ben Affleck directing The Stand on the horizon, Warner Brothers is looking to tackle It next, and they're turning to one of the most promising filmmakers in the business to do it. Variety reports that Cary Fukunaga, director of Sin Nombre and Jane Eyre, will helm the two movies that will comprise the film. Yep, the plan is to split the it into two parts, which makes sense considering the story takes place in two separate time periods. Dave Kajganich was hired back in 2009 to pen the script, but now Fukunaga and Chase Palmer will tag team on a new draft. The story is classic King, involving the repercussions of troubled youth, the power of terrible memories, and sheer unbridled evil. It revolves around a group of seven bullied kids in the 1950s who face down a terrible creature that takes the form of Pennywise the Clown. Thirty years later, the group is forced together again to defeat the returning monster.
Fukunaga is a fantastic talent, and I like that his first two movies are so different from one another. Taking on Stephen King's It is another step in a new direction, and if he nails it a serious feather in his cap.
