Universal Pictures and Blumhouse have just tapped Fatih Akin (‘In the Fade’) to direct a reboot of Stephen King’s classic ‘Firestarter.’ This is a change from last year when Akiva Goldsman had been slated to sit in the director’s chair, and it isn’t clear why this changed.
Ever since ‘IT’ was such a success, every King adaptation in development has been fast-tracked and now we see the reboots arrive as well. The original novel was released in 1980 and a cinematic version came shortly after when a young Drew Barrymore starred as the leading lady when the movie dropped in 1984.
We know that behind the scenes Akin is set to work on a script from Scott Teems (‘Narcos,’ ‘Rectify’) and that Akiva Goldsman, as well as Jason Blum of Blumhouse, will be producing.
For those unfamiliar with King’s sixth published work and hadn’t seen the original movie, the synopsis explains it as:
The Department of Scientific Intelligence (aka “The Shop”) never anticipated that
two participants in their research program would marry and have a child. Charlie
McGee inherited pyrokinetic powers from her parents, who had been given a low-grade hallucinogen called “Lot Six” while at college. Now the government is trying to capture
young Charlie and harness her powerful firestarting skills as a weapon.
The original film has its fans but overall, it wasn’t as successful as of much of King’s other works and there is plenty of potential to further develop the story here. We saw a hint of this in 2002 when a sequel miniseries titled ‘Firestarter: Rekindled’ tried to show what would happen when Charlie McGee grew up. This wasn’t one of Syfy’s best attempts at a miniseries.
Are you looking forward to seeing ‘Firestarter’ possibly brought to the big screen in a way that engages audiences? Did you enjoy the first iteration of this film and think that a reboot isn’t needed? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Slash Film
