Good news, Stephen King fans! We finally know when Blumhouse’s Firestarter remake is getting released. Firestarter will hit US theatres, and the streaming service Peacock, on May 13. The date was revealed alongside the release of the horror movie’s first trailer.
Based on the King book of the same name, Firestarter stars Zac Efron and Sydney Lemmon as Andy and Vicky McGee, who are parents on the run from a shady government agency called The Shop. Why? Well, their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) has incredibly powerful pyrokinetic abilities, and The Shop wants to use her as a weapon.
While Andy and Vicky were able to keep Charlie’s powers under control when she was young, as she ages, they become more and more powerful, leading her to lose control. As the trailer demonstrates, this makes hiding quite difficult and means the family has to live a nomadic life driving from town to town to escape the seemingly limitless reach of The Shop.
King’s book was published in 1980 and was adapted into a film in 1984. That adaption was directed by Mark L. Lester – who’s probably best known for his work on the action movie Commando. Drew Barrymore played the original Charlie with Martin Sheen taking on the role of the villainous Captain James Hollister.
Unfortunately, a relatively star-studded cast didn’t save Firestarter from the cold shoulder of critics. Roger Ebert called it astonishingly boring, while Stephen King said it was one of the worst adaptations of his work that he’d ever seen.
The team at Blumhouse is probably hoping their take on Firestarter will be more warmly received by fans and critics. If you love horror movies, check out our list of the best monster movies.