Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions are gearing up to remake a classic Stephen King tale as Jason Blum himself announced at the Overlook Film Festival they’ll be remaking the Stephen King novel Firestarter. Filmmaker Akiva Goldsman, who recently directed the film Stephanie for Blumhouse, will direct the Firestarter remake from a script by Scott Teems.
Originally published by Stephen King in 1981, Firestarter focuses on a young girl named Charlie McGee, who inherited pyrokinetic powers from her parents after they’d 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.
Previously adapted into a film by Mark Lester in 1984, the original Firestarter movie is notable for being just the third movie that Drew Barrymore appeared in (two years after E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial). The film also featured an ensemble cast, including David Keith, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen, George C. Scott, and Art Carney.
Goldsman previously won an Academy Award for his adapted screenplay of A Beautiful Mind. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with Winter’s Tale but recently headed up Paramount’s writer’s room for the Transformers franchise (which director Michael Bay says they’re developing 14 Transformers stories from). This also isn’t the first time Goldsman has worked in the realm of Stephen King, as he rewrote the script and is credited as a producer on the upcoming The Dark Tower film.
