Stephen King's Firestarter has been given a release date of May 13, 2022, for theaters and streaming on Peacock. The film will star Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Michael Greyeyes, and will be directed by The Vigil director Keith Thomas. The film will be the second direct adaptation of King's novel, with the first adaptation being released in 1984, starring Drew Barrymore and George C. Scott as well as a television miniseries sequel that was released in 2002.
Firestarter tells the story of a father whose daughter develops pyrokinesis, the ability to control fire with her mind. The two must then go on the run from a government agency that wants to control the power and use it for their own means. Firestarter will carry an R-rating that prohibits children under the age of 17 admittance without an adult, typical of most previous King film adaptations including the recent It, Pet Semetary, and Doctor Sleep.
According to NBC Universal, the film will be released in theaters and on Peacock on May 13, presumably on the paid tier, as was the case with Halloween Kills. The press release also mentions that the score will be partly composed by legendary horror director John Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing). Additional casting includes Gloria Reuben, Sydney Lemmon, John Beasley, and Kurtwood Smith.
The film was shot in Toronto, Ontario, in the summer of 2021. King himself has given his blessing to the remake's script, which is a good sign. King is famously particular about adaptations of his work, with his biggest criticism aimed at Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. His approval indicates that the script will likely stick closely to the plot of the book, since King isn't generally a fan of unnecessary changes to his work.
King remains the unchallenged ruler of horror through the written word, having consistently terrified audiences with his novels since the 1970s with his visceral details and character-focused narratives, covering genres from thriller to sci-fi to high fantasy. This immense body of work has given way to some of the scariest movie adaptations of all time, with more recent examples including Gerald's Game, 1922, and the aforementioned films above. With such a broad catalog, not every adaptation is going to pan out (such as the abysmal Cell) but with a fresh promising director, and a potentially strong central performance from Efron, Firestarter could ignite audiences everywhere.
Source: NBC Universal
