Let's play some linguistic gymnastics...
There's two ways to interpret this. One way is that JungleSkip was told "They lost IT months ago." The other, more compelling, way is that, months ago, he was told they lost IT.
It's fairly easy to dismiss the first reading. A rumor can say something was lost whenever. The SECOND is harder to ignore. If JungleSkip was told IT was out long before we realized IT may be out, then it adds more credibility to his claim. Here's why...
Universal operates on a wish-list; these are the houses we want. The first time I saw the "leaked houses" line-up, THAT was the context it was presented to me as. It was Hollywood's wish-list. They were locking some of them, but maybe not all. The wish-list will include SOME design work as part of securing the rights. That design work is Universal's proof they will represent an IP well. Now, lets look at MY timeline.
August - I see a wish-list for Hollywood. Yeah. That's when I started hearing about this year. Stranger Things and IT were BOTH on this list. I was told, "These are the IPs they're trying to lock down."
October - I see bits of design/planning work for SOME of the houses on the wish-list. It's not all. I see Stranger Things. I do NOT see IT.
November - I hear (from someone I trust) about the IT research book. From its description, it sounds like they just took every possible picture of what WB did with the Neibolt house attraction. It's a research book though. Not a design product.
Months past. I get details on some houses that confirm them to me. I don't hear squat about IT. Murdy plays his normal, vague, carny games. He talks about locking stuff down. Does his happy horror dance. In reality, all we can do is ASSUME we know what he's talking about. Full disclosure, I don't rely heavily on Murdy (or the Ifrit or many blogs). I take all of what they're saying and try figure what's truth and what's noise.
March - I start getting maddeningly conflicting information on IT.
So, let's look Murdy's tweet from yesterday:
"There's been some changes during design." Design is a LONG process that started in (at least) August with the wish-list. This DOESN'T imply the types of changes (different scenes or different properties).
"Nothing that was fully designed." This is crucial. This means that any changes that occurred were EARLY enough that he didn't finish the design. Orlando starts FINISHING design work in February/March and I imagine Hollywood is similar. This matters because of what JungleSkip said: "I heard they lost IT months ago."
"I had an original I was working on that will hopefully get done in the future." This is pretty big and gives the first line some critical perspective. It means that the "changes during design" he refers to can include scrapping an entire house. It's also important to note what he DOESN'T say. He doesn't reference a property. But just because it's not mentioned doesn't mean it's not included.
Speculation is a GAME. I play it. Murdy plays. JungleSkip was playing it. Brian plays it. Cynicism is required. Words matter. And linguistic gymnastics can help you figure out the answer.
