Just as the Poltergeist remake has proven that there is still a market for scary clowns on the big screen, New Line was preparing to head into production on a remake of another ’80s clown-themed horror flick. Unfortunately for them, the project just hit a major snag. Director Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) has been attached to helm a new version of Stephen King’s It for a while now, but with just three weeks to go before the movie was scheduled to start shooting, Fukunaga has reportedly dropped out of the project. The movie has been postponed indefinitely and at the moment it is unclear if they are planning to find a replacement or simply scrap the whole thing. Hit the jump for the full scoop.

According to THR, Cary Fukunaga has decided to leave New Line’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It due to creative differences. The project was being planned as two feature length films with the second expected to have a higher budget than the first. However, Fukunaga was still pushing for more money even as he continued to tinker with the script right up to the final weeks before shooting, which put him at an impasse with the studio.

The news comes just weeks after it was announced that Will Poulter (We’re the Millers) was in talks to play Pennywise in the film. It was a slightly unexpected casting choice and there was some mention that Fukunaga may have had to push for Poulter. Either way, it’s unclear if Poulter will remain attached or if the project will even happen. Stephen King just tweeted that the remake is “dead”, so it sounds like the studio might be pulling the plug. Are you disappointed that Cary Fukunaga is walking away from It?