To say that veteran horror author Stephen King is having a moment is probably a bit simplistic — he’s one of the most popular and successful authors of all time, and his work has been the source material for classics including “The Shining” and “The Shawshank Redemption,” so it’s pretty rare that he hasn’t been having a moment. But King looks to be more present on screen than ever across 2017 and 2018, even by his prolific standards.
With the King-influenced “Stranger Things” returning in October, we’ve also get the first big-screen version of the writer’s fantasy series “The Dark Tower,” starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, the first in a two-part blockbuster adaptation of “It,” Netflix movie “Gerald’s Game,” a TV adaptation of “The Mist,” a series starring Brendan Gleeson based on “Mr. Mercedes,” and a J.J. Abrams-produced show that will mash up much of King’s work called “Castle Rock.” And now, one more has been added to the pile.
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Deadline reported that a remake of “Firestarter,” the 1984 adaptation of King’s novel that starred Drew Barrymore and George C. Scott, and involves a father on the run with his daughter, who has pyrokinetic abilities, is currently in the works from Blumhouse, who are high off the surprises smashes of “Split” and “Get Out” this year. They’ll be reteaming with writer-director Akiva Goldsman, whose first Blumhouse movie “Stephanie” just premiered at the King-affiliated Overlook Film Festival last night.
Goldsman has a lot of crap on his resumé — he’s the writer of “Lost In Space,” “Batman & Robin,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “The 5th Wave” and “Rings,” and the director of the all-time trainwreck, “Winter’s Tale.” But he’s also an Oscar-winner for “A Beautiful Mind,” and does have some decent work behind him too (most notably his scripts for terminally undervalued TV show “Fringe”), so we remain hopeful that this might turn out ok, depending on how word about “Stephanie” turns out. “Rectify” writer Scott Teems is penning the script rather than Goldsman, so that’s something.