Stephen King adaptations are starting to become all the rage again, with THE DARK TOWER and IT both standing as two of this year’s most anticipated releases. Studios are clearly noticing as yet another classic King tale, FIRESTARTER, is getting the modern treatment from Akiva Goldsman and Blumhouse Productions.
The news was announced last night at the Overlook Film Festival after a screening of Goldman’s newest directorial effort, STEPHANIE, which is being produced by Jason Blum. Goldsman will direct the newest version of the story, which got its first cinematic treatment in 1984 with Drew Barrymore starring as the girl who can start fires telepathically. Having won an Oscar for writing A BEAUTIFUL MIND, and even helped write the script for TOWER, Goldsman will not write the script, a job that has instead been given to Scott Teems.
We have yet to see any footage for the long-awaited, endlessly mysterious DARK TOWER film, but the IT trailer debuted to massive numbers last month, demolishing the 24-hour viewing record with 197 million views. Scary demon clowns are also all the rage now, it seems.
FIRESTARTER isn’t the first King story I would think would get a modern update. Yes, TOWER and IT are shaping up to be big hits, but 2013 saw the remake of CARRIE coming out to forgettable response. However, FIRESTARTER doesn’t have near the kind of fan base as THE SHINING, MISERY, SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION or even STAND BY ME, so doing another version could be met with a more open-minded response. Either way, Blumhouse has been on a roll, this year alone giving us SPLIT and GET OUT, so let’s hope they can keep the – ahem – hot streak going. Ho-ho! I've clearly had my coffee!
THE DARK TOWER arrives August 4, while IT follows on September 8.