'Children of the Corn' Sequel Gets Trailer and Release Date

Many audiences have been focused on a variety of Stephen King adaptations that are headed our way in 2018, like the Castle Rock TV series or the second season of Mr. Mercedes, but many may have forgotten that an all-new sequel in the Children of the Corn franchise is landing on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD in March. Check out the all-new trailer for Children of the Corn: Runaway above before it debuts on March 13.

Children of the Corn: Runaway tells the story of young, pregnant Ruth, who escapes a murderous child cult in a small Midwestern town. She spends the next decade living anonymously in an attempt to spare her son the horrors that she experienced as a child. Ruth and her son end up in a small Oklahoma town, but something is following her. Now, she must confront this evil or lose her child.

King's original short story was published in 1977 and told the story of a young couple exploring a small town after their car breaks down. Coming across only young children in the town, the couple begins getting suspicious, only to realize that through a literal interpretation of key religious texts, each of the town's residents is sacrificed on their 19th birthday.

The franchise kicked off with a feature film adaptation in 1984, with Runaway being the 10th film in the series.

Some analysts theorize that this most recent sequel was made for the sole purposes of retaining the rights to the property, as there are many interested parties who hope to secure sole ownership of the property in order to revive the franchise. Even King himself has tried to get the rights to his novella back, filing claims back in 2016 to get the ball rolling.

King's attempts to retain rights to his story don't just include Children of the Corn, but also The Dead Zone, Cujo, Creepshow, Cat's Eye and Firestarter.

According to Zerner Law, "After September 1, 2018, if a studio wanted to make a sequel or remake of any of these movies, they would have to go back to Stephen King and make a new deal."

Regardless of the quality of this upcoming sequel, we hope King can get the rights back to do with his stories what he wishes.

Children of the Corn: Runaway debuts on March 13.

[H/T YouTube, Lionsgate Unlocked]