Last year, Zac Efron was cast in Universal and Blumhouse’s film adaptation of the best-selling Stephen King novel Firestarter. After being stuck in development for years, the reboot of the 1980 sci-fi book will begin shooting this June.
The novel followed Charlie McGee, a young girl who inherits deadly pyrokinetic abilities from her parents. Charlie has the ability to see the future and is wanted by an organization named the Department of Scientific Intelligence. The government agency strives to capture Charlie and use her incredible powers as a weapon. Charlie’s parents were participants in the mysterious organization when they were in college and were given a low-grade hallucinogen called “Lot Six.”
While Universal has yet to announce a release date for the upcoming film, producer Akiva Goldsman (Star Trek: Picard) told The Hollywood Reporter that Firestarter is expected to begin production this coming June. The writer-director asserted that the original movie diverged from the book “significantly” and that the Teems’ script is closer to King’s novel in both incident and tone. “Firestarter is one of the last great, either unmade or un-remade, Stephen King novels that have become classics,” said Goldsman, while adding, “[it] was always some of Stephen’s most intimate and affective horror, and I think pyrokinesis is a really fascinating idea when it comes to the expression of hidden feelings.”
Firestarter was first adapted for the big screen in 1984. The thriller was directed by Mark L. Lester and starred a young Drew Barrymore as Charlie, David Keith as Charlie’s dad Andrew, and Martin Sheen as the villainous Captain James Hollister. While the film was relatively faithful to the novel, it received negative reviews from critics and grossed just $17 million worldwide. King, who has frequently criticized adaptions of his novels, once described in detail why he hated the Firestarter movie. He stated that the movie was “flavorless” and comparable to “cafeteria mashed potatoes.” The iconic writer added that he wasn’t fond of Martin Sheen’s performance and the special effects.
In 2017, Jason Blum announced that a Firestarter remake was in the works. Keith Thomas, who most notably made the supernatural horror film The Vigil (2019), was tapped to direct. Halloween Kills writer Scott Teems penned the script, while Zac Efron will star as Charlie’s father. As of right now, the role of Charlie has not been cast. Thomas stated that the new version will be true to the novel and will get into some things that the original film didn’t. The director revealed that he gained King’s approval after the novelist saw The Vigil and that King is satisfied with the early stages of the script.
Firestarter feels like just the latest in a long line of recently released or forthcoming King adaptations. For instance, Edgar Wright is set to direct a new adaptation of King’s The Running Man.
Firestarter is in development at Blumhouse.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
