Firestarter - the next Stephen King remake?

Since the success of Stephen King’s IT, the famous horror writer has enjoyed a Hollywood revival with a number of cinematic adaptations, and none of the author's works is hotter than Firestarter (pun intended).

Every film studio is pushing its Stephen King stories with Warner Bros making IT: Chapter 2, and Paramount is filming Pet Seminary. So be prepared to be inundated with classical horror movies in the next year.

The novel was first adapted for film in 1984 which starred Drew Barrymore. A remake of Firestarter has been discussed for years now, but things really began to roll when the project was officially announced this year when Faith Akin was announced to direct. Fatih Akin most recently directed In the Fade, which took home a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Scott Teems will write the script (he worked on Netflix’s Narcos) while Akiva Goldsman who was originally attached to direct will produce.

Firestarter tells the story of a young girl named Charlie who develops pyrokinetic abilities and is pursued by a secret government agency, called The Shop that wants to use her as a weapon. Do you think it sounds familiar? In Stranger Things, Charlie's parents also participated in The Shop's experiments with LSD and gained powers that caused nosebleeds.  

The original Firestarter is not considered to be one of the better Stephen King adaptations, so this remake provides a great opportunity to do something special without too high of expectations. The original Firestarter received lukewarm reviews and therefore it’s not as risky as remaking truly great King adaptations like Carrie or The Shining. In many ways, the original can be improved upon quite a bit. Here’s hoping they find a way to incorporate Prodigy’s 1997 hit song of the same name somewhere in the movie this time, maybe during one of the big pyro freak-outs. No release date has been given for the new Firestarter as of yet.

The new version of Firestarter will be a collaboration of Universal and Blumhouse Films, was first announced at the Overlook Film Festival in Oregon, which is named after King’s infamous haunted hotel from The Shining. Not only is the festival named for The Shining hotel, it is also held at the Timberline Lodge in Oregon, which served as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in Kubrick’s classic film version of the novel.
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It’s unknown if Firestarter will have a larger budget or remain a smaller budgeted fare, especially since Akin isn’t known for his mainstream films. This would be his second collaboration with Blumhouse Films after the just completed film Stephanie, which also  premiered at the Overlook Film Festival.