Jason Blum Reveals the Stephen King Story He’d Love to Adapt

For more than four decades, Stephen King stories have been terrifying audiences, many of which have gone on to be brought to life for feature films. Producer Jason Blum and his Blumhouse Productions is currently developing new adaptations of Firestarter and Christine, both of which have previously been adapted, with the filmmaker also admitting that he’d love to develop a new take on King’s 1979 novel The Dead Zone. The novel was previously brought to life by director David Cronenberg in 1983 for a feature film, in addition to being developed into a TV series that debuted in 2002 and ran for six seasons.

“We didn’t get it, but I’d love to do The Dead Zone. That would be cool, to reboot that in some way would be cool,” Blum confirmed with ComicBook.com. “We don’t have it, I know we don’t have it. It’s sad that we don’t have it but we don’t.”

Knowing that Blum had hoped to secure the rights to the story and wasn’t able to acquire them at the moment might be frustrating for some fans, but it likely also means that plans for the project could change at some point in the future. 

Stephen King’s website describes his The Dead Zone novel, “Waking up from a five-year coma after a car accident, former schoolteacher Johnny Smith discovers that he can see people’s futures and pasts when he touches them. Many consider his talent a gift; Johnny feels cursed. His fiance married another man during his coma and people clamor for him to solve their problems. When Johnny has a disturbing vision after he shakes the hand of an ambitious and amoral politician, he must decide if he should take drastic action to change the future.”

Production on the new Firestarter wrapped earlier this year. That film comes from director Keith Thomas and stars Zac Efron, Ryan Keira Armstrong, Sydney Lemmon, Michael Greyeyes, and Gloria Reuben. The story focuses on a girl who has pyrokinetic abilities and is being tracked down by the government. Firestarter does not yet have a release date.

In Christine, a 1958 Plymouth Fury is restored by a teenager and comes to life on its own to seek revenge against anyone who torments its new owner. The new Christine will be written and directed by Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller.

Stay tuned for details on future Stephen King adaptations from Blumhouse Productions.

Would you like to see a new adaptation of The Dead Zone? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!