Guillermo del Toro, veteran horror movie director, revealed that he would love to be one of the filmmakers who adapt a Stephen King novel for the big screen. In a recent interview on The Kingcast podcast, The Shape of Water director stated that he “would love” to make a movie of one of King’s most frightening literary works, Pet Sematary.
“You know the novel that I would have killed to adapt, and I know there’s two versions of it, and I still think maybe in a deranged universe I get to do it again one day, is Pet Sematary,” del Toro said. “Because it not only has the very best final couple of lines of the King oeuvre, but it scared me when I was a young man. As a father, I now understand it better than I ever would have, and it scares me a hundred times more. I’d love to be able to do it.”
First published in 1983, King’s Pet Sematary has been adapted twice so far. Mary Lambert made a cinematic version of the story back in 1983, and then in 2019, Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer took a crack at the story. Currently, paramount pictures also has a Pet Sematary sequel in the works, directed by Lindsey Beer.
But despite the novel being so heavily favoured lately, that doesn’t mean del Toro won’t ever get the chance to make a Pet Sematary movie of his own. The filmmaker is well versed in making supernatural stories. Having helmed films such as Pan’s Labyrinth or the ghost movie The Devil’s Backbone, Del Toro has plenty of creepy experience. It is easy to imagine him taking a swing at Stephen King’s novel. However, only time will tell if he gets his pet Sematary wish.
In the meantime, fans can look forward to the upcoming prequel movie, which has cast the likes of Henry Thomas (the Haunting of Hill House), Jackson White (Mrs Fletcher), and Jack Mulhern ( Mare of Easttoown). Plot details about the upcoming Pet Sematary sequel are currently under wraps, and there is no set release date for the thriller movie either – stay tuned for updates.
Guillermo del Toro may not be adapting Pet Sematary any time soon, but his latest film, Nightmare Alley starring Bradley Cooper and Cate Blanchett, hits theatres on December 17, 2021 in the US, and on January 21 2022, in the UK.