While Netflix hasn’t yet renewed “Stranger Things” (and while we’re at it, how about another season of “Last Chance U” with more Brittany Wagner?) they certainly aren’t shy about promoting the hit summer series, getting the show’s writers, creators, and directors, The Duffer Brothers, talking to the media. And in the process, we’ve learned much about the journey the sibling filmmakers have taken through Hollywood: directing a short film, helming a feature length film (2015’s “Hidden“), and earning their TV stripes on “Wayward Pines.” Still, it speaks to the confidence Netflix had in the pair to let them run with “Stranger Things,” when the rest of the industry weren’t that interested. But the series wasn’t the first time the brothers showed their big ambitions.
In an interview with THR, the Duffers reveal that way back when, they approached Warner Bros. and offered to direct an adaptation of Stephen King‘s “It.” And as you probably realize, it didn’t work out.
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“…we’d asked Warner Brothers. I was like, ‘Please,’ and they were like, ‘No.’ This was before Cary Fukunaga. This was a long time ago,” Matt Duffer said.
And while the pair were thrilled that someone like Fukunaga had been assigned, they also had their concerns simply as huge fans of Stephen King and his epic book.
“…then [Cary Fukunaga] got on it afterwards because he’s established. So, he got on it and we were excited just because we’re huge fans of what he does, and one of the few people who hasn’t made a bad movie. So, that was exciting to us, but also, we were seeing trailers for ‘True Detective,’ we’re like, ‘I kind of want to see. How do you do It in two hours? Even if you’re separating the kids, how do you do that right?’ You don’t really fall in love with them the same way you’re going to when I read that book,” Ross Ruffer said. “So, how much more excited would I be if Cary Fukunaga was doing that for HBO or he was doing that for Netflix?”
It should be mentioned here that Fukunaga’s plan was actually for a two-film, R-rated adaptation, which has since become a single film effort from filmmaker Andrés Muschietti (“Mama“). Still, the duo think the material would be best served in a long format like the 1990 TV miniseries.
“It’s like, ‘Could you be truer to the sensibilities of ‘It’ if you had eight or ten hours?’ We thought that you probably could more than if you were confined to two hours. At least that’s how we made ourselves feel better about not getting the movie adaptation,” Matt Duffer said. “We still would have done it, obviously. I’m really excited about that movie. I think it will be cool.”
And while the Duffers missed out on “It,” given that the author has tweeted his approval of “Stranger Things,” and siblings’ clear love for King’s work, I would not be surprised if they get to tackle one of his novels down the line.