An adaptation of Stephen King's It is moving from the television to the big screen, courtesy of director Cary Fukunaga (Jane Eyre).  Fukunaga, who also wrote and directed the 2009 drama, Sin Nombre, will co-write the script with Chase Palmer. Known for the density of his books, King's It weighs in at a robust 1,104 pages.  Having said that, Fukunaga and Palmer plan to tackle the tale in two films (Palmer previously adapted Frank Herbert's Dune for Paramount, at a much more manageable 544 pages).  The plot of It centers on a group of loser kids who band together to defeat a mysterious creature who preys on children.  Thinking themselves safe as adults, It comes back to test their mettle once again.  Hit the jump for more on It.

Heat Vision reported

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on Fukunaga's attachment to It. A previous adaptation was featured on the small screen in 1990.  The three-hour movie starred John Ritter, Jonathan Brandis, Seth Green, Harry Anderson, Annette O'Toole, Richard Thomas and, of course, Tim Curry in the title role.  Even the made-for-TV movie scared the crap out of me as a kid.  The creepiest thing about it was that It would appear to each character in the form that most frightened them, something different for each one, but was most often seen as Pennywise the Clown.  It will be interesting to see how Fukunaga handles the visuals that are so deeply ingrained in my own memory from the TV version.  What will be more interesting to see is how he splits the film up: will he give the kids one full movie while devoting the second to the adults or will he blend the two? Only time will tell.

Here's the book description for Stephen King's It (via Amazon):

They were just kids when they stumbled upon the horror within their hometown. Now, as adults, none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them all back to Derry, Maine, to face the nightmare without end, and the evil without a name...

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