From the IndieWire website:
Akiva Goldsman Will Write and Direct a New Version of Stephen King’s ‘Firestarter,’ Produced By Blumhouse
At the inaugural Overlook Film Festival, producer Jason Blum and Goldsman explained the history of the project and why they’re keen on revisiting King’s 1980 novel.
After the screening, Goldsman and Blum shared some breaking news with the audience: The pair would be teaming up again for a new adaptation of “Firestarter,” Stephen King’s 1980 novel about a young girl with pyrokensis and the government agency on her trail.
“No one knows about this at all,” said Blum, who also received the festival’s Visionary Award for his support of horror films. “Akiva and Stephen King have a long relationship. We wouldn’t do it unless he had blessed it.” Blum noted that King would also have a producing credit on the production. “He wouldn’t do it unless he trusted Akiva’s hand with it,” Blum said. “We’re already working on it and now it’s official.”
Goldsman is writing the script with Scott Teems (“Rectify”), and the filmmaker was quick to point out that they would be focusing on the original novel, rather than the earlier 1984 adaptation. “We’re going to be looking back to the book to do it well,” Goldsman said. “We have tremendous love for the original object. Scott is a wonderful writer…He’s typing very fast because there’s a writers strike coming. We’re really looking forward to attending the text the way it was written.”
The movie is a logical next step for Goldsman after “Stephanie,” which also focuses on a young girl (Shree Crooks, “Captain Fantastic”) with dangerously powerful abilities to control the world around her with her mind. “A lot of it came from working with someone like Shree who can remind you that children can hold the screen,” Goldsman said.
Read the original article here
