Will there be a Pet Sematary 2 and, if so, when will it release and what story will it tell? The latest Stephen King adaptation is Pet Sematary, from directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer and starring Jason Clarke and John Lithgow.
The film follows Louis Creed (Clarke), who moves his family to Ludlow, Maine to start a new life more focused on the children, Ellie and Gage. A discovery that the woods behind the new house is haunted by a spirit known as Wendigo that can bring things back to life, however, slowly spirals the Creeds life; first Ellie's cat Church is resurrected as a violent, twisted shadow of its former self, then the daughter becomes a scalpel-wielding murderer who wants to turn the whole family over to death.
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In a similar vein to fellow 1980s horror remake Evil Dead, Pet Sematary is a darker twist on the previous iteration with more visceral, sticker gore, and that's earned it strong reviews following its SXSW premiere. Naturally, the question becomes whether there'll be a Pet Sematary 2. Here's everything we know about a potential sequel.
Pet Sematary 2 Isn't Confirmed Yet (And Will Depend On Box Office)
First things first, it's worth noting that - at the time of writing - Pet Sematary 2 hasn't been officially announced yet. However, should the new movie prove to be a box office hit (which, given its $11.5 million budget and opening weekend projections doubling that, seems likely), then it wouldn't be surprising for a sequel to be greenlit. After all, while dead may be better, dead doesn't have to be forever.
Pet Sematary 1989 Got A Sequel (With No Stephen King Connection)
While Stephen King never wrote a sequel to Pet Sematary, there is still precedent for an expansion of the story. The 1989 movie spawned a sequel in 1992 - directed by a returning Mary Lambert and starring a post-Terminator Edward Furlong - that picked up three years later with a new family moving to Ludlow and getting wrapped up in the Wendigo curse, this time by way of Furlong's dead mother. It's a pretty typical sequel for the time - aside from a couple of references to the Creeds, there's not actually much narrative connection to the original - but, while not as well-regarded as the original, it's far from a dud follow-up; the sheer inventiveness in the kills and an unhinged Clancy Brown performance make it worthy enough a recommendation for horror fans.
This definitely leaves the grave open for Pet Sematary's reboot to rise again, although don't expect a similar story approach...
Pet Sematary 2 Could Be A Prequel
The end of Pet Sematary 2019 is certainly open for further exploration, although if there is a another movie, don't expect it to pick up with the Creeds in their creepy new status quo. Speaking after the film's SXSW premiere, producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said he would actually be more interested in making a prequel to Pet Sematary.
There's a lot of fertile ground here. Obviously, there's the Wendigo spirit, only lightly teased in the new movie, and its driving out of the native Americans. More intriguing, though, is the case of Timmy Baterman. In both the book and original movie, Louis Creed isn't the first to resurrect a human: Timmy was a soldier who died in World War II and was buired by his father in the woods, only to come back as a monster; the townspeople - including Jud (Lithgow) - formed a mob that led to Timmy and Bill dying as their house burned down (who set the fire varies by medium). There's no mention of the Batermans in the new movie, possibly because they're being saved for a later film.
When Would Pet Sematary 2 Release?
Pet Sematary was announced in October 2017, shot over Summer 2018, and premiered in March 2019. Assuming a sequel was greenlit shortly after the original, a Pet Sematary 2 could release as early as Fall 2020, although that assumes a pretty straight run up.
We'll update this page with more information about Pet Sematary 2 as it arises.
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