Firestarter remake being prepped

Firestarter

A new version of Stephen King horror Firestarter is in the works over at Universal Pictures.

The studio are pairing up with Dino De Laurentiis Co. in order to reinvigorate the concept into a “franchise property”, with advances in visual effects and the plot’s timelessness apparently key in getting the reboot into production.

King’s 1980 novel was first adapted into a film starring a mini Drew Barrymore in 1984. Barrymore played Charlie McGee, who a government agency are after thanks to her special pyrokinetic powers.

Vacancy scribe Mark L. Smith is polishing the script as we speak, and should be meeting potential directors at some point next year.

Smith’s reboot is apparently going to update McGee, affording her “more edge”. Edgier than a girl with the ability to start fires using just the power of her mind? Good luck.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.