Firestarter: Blumhouse Offers First Behind-the-Scenes Look at Stephen King Adaptation

Author Stephen King took to Twitter to wish the new adaptation of his novel Firestarter good luck [...]

By Patrick Cavanaugh

Author Stephen King took to Twitter to wish the new adaptation of his novel Firestarter good luck as production was about to kick off last month, with Blumhouse Productions now taking to social media to confirm that the film is currently shooting, sharing an appropriately fiery tease of what's in store for audiences. The video features a stunt performer engulfed in flames, so while there might not be official looks at any of the film's stars or memorable sequences, it's clear that the production wants to have a strong grasp on the story's telekinetic nature. The new adaptation of Firestarter does not yet have a release date.

"Walking into the first day of production like...." Blumhouse captioned the video.

The new film will star Zac Efron and Michael Greyeyes, with The Vigil director Keith Thomas helming from a script by Scott Teems. The previous adaptation famously starred Drew Barrymore as a young girl with telekinetic abilities, with it currently being unknown who will take over the iconic character for this new endeavor.

With this being the most recent revival of the famous novel, director Thomas previously teased what fans of both the movie adaptation and source material can expect from this new take on the story.

"It's something I've thought a lot about," Thomas shared with ComicBook.com. "And, certainly, when the project first came to me, I was very lucky in that the script by Scott Teems, who wrote the upcoming Halloween Kills, was just very, very good, and very rich. The material itself isn't different, right? I mean, it's the same book that this film is drawing from, the one the earlier film did. But what we're leaning into from the book is different. That's the angle where you can do something. So, for me, it was really leaning into more emotional aspects. It was leaning into parenthood and what that looks like, and then, how do you raise a child, especially a child with abilities like this. That was the place the script went and I thought that it was something that's a little different than the original film."

He added, "Also, the book's super rich. There's a lot of stuff that's in the book that isn't in the original film. There's stuff in there that we're using, that we're going into. At the same time, I feel like, just for me, in terms of the films I'm interested in, I feel like there's a visceral quality to the story that I didn't see in the '80s version, a rawness that I think is there in the book, that I certainly felt, that I'm really interested in diving into. And, luckily, I think everybody else involved feels the same way, that this is going to be ... not only will it have the effects and you're going to get to see all the stuff Charlie can do, which is fun, and cool, and exciting, but if we do it right, it's not so much as dark as The Vigil, but you should come out of it emotional. If you do it right, it's going to really hit that way."

Stay tuned for details on the new Firestarter.

Are you looking forward to the movie? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars.

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