Universal and Blumhouse have found the lead for the Firestarter reboot.
Ryan Kiera Armstrong (American Horror Story, The Tomorrow War, It: Chapter II) will play Charlie in the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's book of the same name from Universal Pictures, Blumhouse and Weed Road Pictures. Armstrong joins previously announced actors Zac Efron (Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile) and Michael Greyeyes (Rutherford Falls, True Detective).
Directed by The Vigil's Keith Thomas (The Vigil) with a script from Scott Teems (Halloween Kills), the new take on King's classic work will be produced by Jason Blum and Akiva Goldsman. Martha De Laurentiis, an associate producer on 1984's Firestarter, will executive produce.
Thomas and Goldsman have both claimed the new film will be more faithful to King's source material. "I think there's a lot of stuff to explore in [the Firestarter novel] that King obviously is hinting at throughout the book that I don't see as much in the original film that I think we can really dive into," Thomas previously said.
"Firestarter is one of the last great, either unmade or un-remade, Stephen King novels that have become classics," Goldsman said in a separate interview. "Pyrokinesis is a really fascinating idea when it comes to the expression of hidden feelings."
Though the film lacks a release date, production on Firestarter began last month. Like in the book and film, it centers on young Charlie, who realizes she has pyrokinetic abilities. Efron will play Andy, Charlie's father, while Michael Greyeyes will play John Rainbird, a hitman hired by the government to find and capture Charlie to study and use her powers.
Goldsman was originally signed to direct the remake, but it was announced in June 2018 that Fatih Akin would be helming instead. In 2019, Thomas replaced Akin as the director. The film is one of several King adaptations in the works, while a mini-series version of his book Lisey's Story is currently airing on Apple TV+.
Directed by Keith Thomas and based on the book by Stephen King, Firestarter stars Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Zac Efron and Michael Greyeyes. The film has yet to receive a release date.
Source: Universal Pictures