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Director for Stephen King’s ‘It’ remake drops out

LOS ANGELES — New Line’s feature adaptation of Stephen King’s “It” has lost its director.

Cary Fukunaga has dropped out of the project as director, sources confirmed on Monday. The “True Detective” exited the project this weekend.

“It” was set to be split up into two films, and sources say that New Line was considering making only one movie, likely because of budget concerns. Fukunaga, however, was adamant about making two pics, causing him to clash with the studio.

Production was originally set to move forward this summer, but is now stalled.

It was revealed earlier this month that Will Poutler is in talks to play the evil clown Pennywise in the horror. Older actors Mark Rylance and Ben Mendelsohn were also in the mix for the role.

Fukunaga came on board to the project in 2012, when it was set up at Warner Bros. before moving to New Line. He penned the screenplay along with Chase Palmer.

The Wrap first reported the news of Fukunaga’s exit.

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