The movie update of Stephen King’s Firestarter has a new director, the latest behind the scenes shift for the adaptation. King’s novel, released in 1980, told the story of Charlie McGee. The daughter of two parents that participated in a research program, known as “The Shop”, Charlie would develop pyrokinetic powers. The government takes a keen interest in Charlie, hoping to utilize her immense abilities for their own benefit. The novel was adapted for the big screen in 1984.
Sharing the same title as the book, Firestarter starred Drew Barrymore in the lead role. The cast included several stars that would soon be recognizable for other roles, including Heather Locklear and Martin Sheen. The adaptation was met with generally unfavorable reviews, with critics like Roger Ebert panning the film for being boring and unconvincing in his view. Stephen King looks at the Firestarter movie negatively, as well. In past remarks, he noted that he found the adaptation to be flavorless and called out the special effects for not making sense. While reboots and remakes can sometimes be pale imitations of superior work, a Firestarter reboot is one case where there’s a lot of room to potentially improve on the original.
But things haven’t gotten off the ground so easily for this particular big screen take on Stephen King. In 2017, it was announced that Akiva Goldsman had been chosen as the director. Goldsman was later replaced by Fatih Akin, who is known to many for helming In The Fade starring Diane Kruger. The Firestarter reboot almost managed to make it out of 2019 without a change in directorial duties, but Variety is now reporting that Keith Thomas will step in as the new director of the reboot. The reboot comes from Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions and Weed Road Productions. Scott Teems is set to pen the script. Drew Barrymore will be involved with the project as an executive producer.
Teems is also one of the co-writers on the upcoming Halloween sequel, Halloween Kills, sharing the credit with David Gordon Green and Danny McBride. As for Thomas, he’s recently helmed The Vigil. A tale of supernatural horror, the film unfolds over the course of a single evening. Set in a Hasidic neighborhood, the story follows a man who reluctantly accepts the offer to look after the body of a deceased community member overnight. It’s a common tradition. But in The Vigil, it doesn’t go quite as planned. Blumhouse was reportedly very impressed with the movie, acquiring the domestic distribution rights to it, which played into their decision to work with Thomas for Firestarter.
It’s tempting to think of Stephen King adaptations as easy fits, for either movies or television, but the Firestarter reboot has stalled since it was first announced in 2010. In the years that have passed, the prolific master of horror has experienced a resurgence thanks to the success of the It films. Keith Thomas, the latest director tasked with updating Firestarter, is likely hoping to capitalize on some of that resurgent popularity.
Source: Variety