Pet Sematary Prequel Adds More Actors to Stephen King Spinoff

The new Pet Sematary movie, a Paramount+ original and prequel to the classic Stephen King story, has rounded out its cast with four more new additions. The Hollywood Reporter brings word that four new actors have joined the film including Jack Mulhern (Mare of Easttown), Forrest Goodluck (The Revenant), Natalie Alyn Lind (Big Sky), and newcomer Isabella Star LaBlanc. Word on who they might be playing wasn’t revealed but they join a cast that includes Jackson White (Mrs. Fletcher) in the role of young Jud Crandall. Filming on the spinoff is set to begin in August, no release window for the film has been announced.

Official plot details for the new movie haven’t been confirmed but the fact that White has been cast in the part of young Jud Crandall is a major tell. As readers of the original Stephen King novel and fans of the feature films will remember Crandall as the elder neighbor character to the Creed family, previously played on the big screen by Fred Gwynne in the 1989 movie with John Lithgow taking on the role in the 2019 reboot. White playing a younger version of the character means this will be a prequel tale to the original Pet Sematary, the story for which was even revealed in the first film.

In Pet Sematary, while explaining the down side to the titular magical cemetary, Crandall reveals the story of Timmy Baterman, a person killed during World War II and whose father buried him in the “sour ground.” After returning to life, Baterman began to terrorize people just like the pets that returned, but would terrorize the town with their own secrets. In the end his father would kill him once again. The whole story from Crandall leads to the iconic line “sometimes, dead is better.” It’s not confirmed that this will be the content of the new movie but if we were the betting type we would put the house on it.

Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser) is set to write and direct the film based on a previous script by Jeff Buhler.

“I think if there’s anything here, there’s a prequel,” di Bonaventura previously told Consequence of Sound about a Pet Sematary prequel idea he had. “I think if you look at the book, we didn’t cover all that stuff that happens before the Creed family moves in. So, I think there’s a movie there, and I think I’d be particularly interested in doing that, because, again, it’s the source material and you are going toward something that also has a lot of crazy, creepy feelings about it.”

Check back here for more details on the new Pet Sematary as we learn them.