In my opinion – lots to like about our first look at this new take on the classic Stephen King tale Firestarter. Don’t get me wrong – I’ve learned to love the original starring Drew Berrymore but – it always just felt a little too “movie of the week” to me – always came across as more of a TV movie, not even sure that’s a bad thing but – it’s always left me wanting more.
If this trailer is an accurate indication – it looks like we may be getting just that.
They’ve obviously embraced their past – acknowledging the film that has come before it – but this one seems to have an edge that the original never seemed to find. Here’s the official word from Universal:
“In a new adaptation of Stephen King’s classic thriller from the producers of The Invisible Man, a girl with extraordinary pyrokinetic powers fights to protect her family and herself from sinister forces that seek to capture and control her.
For more than a decade, parents Andy (Zac Efron; Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile; The Greatest Showman) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon; Fear the Walking Dead, Succession) have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong; American Horror Story: Double Feature, The Tomorrow War) from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction.
Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, which is triggered by anger or pain. But as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control. After an incident reveals the family’s location, a mysterious operative (Michael Greyeyes; Wild Indian, Rutherford Falls) is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all. Charlie has other plans.
The film also stars Kurtwood Smith (Amityville: The Awakening, Hitchcock), John Beasley (The Purge: Anarchy, The Sum of All Fears) and Gloria Reuben (Lincoln, Mr. Robot). The Firestarter score is composed by the legendary John Carpenter (Halloween, Christine, The Fog) and his fellow Halloween franchise composers Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies.
Directed by Keith Thomas (The Vigil), from a screenplay by Scott Teems (Halloween Kills) based on the novel by Stephen King, Firestarter is produced by Jason Blum (Halloween, The Invisible Man) for Blumhouse and Oscar® winner Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, Constantine) for Weed Road Pictures. The film’s executive producers are Ryan Turek, Gregory Lessans, Scott Teems, Martha De Laurentiis, J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules.”
Did you see that John Carpenter and his son Cody handled the score! How freaking cool is that?
Last cool thing is that Firestarter will be debuting on Peacock the same day it hits theaters – which I personally love.
May 13th is the date you need to remember.
