Apparently there is a franchise to be had out of the story about a little girl who can start fires with her mind.
Universal is teaming with the Dino De Laurentiis Co. to reboot the 1984 Drew Barrymore film “Firestarter” into a new franchise. It will apparently be a loose adaptation of the Stephen King source material that will reinvent the character “with a little more edge.” We’re not really sure how much edgier a creepy pyromaniac kid needs to be, but we’d guess that Mark L. Smith (“Vacancy“), who has been brought aboard to write the screenplay, has something in mind.
Universal are keen on the project and hope to get it in front of cameras next year, but it has yet to go out to directors just yet. This isn’t the first time an attempt to reboot/remake/sequelize “Firestarter” has been made as in 2002, SyFy unleashed the miniseries “Firestarter 2: Rekindled” which was mostly notable for somehow snaring both Dennis Hopper and Malcolm McDowell is its clutches. Also gestating is a remake of “Maximum Overdrive” about haunted cars but we’ll only care about that if Emilio Estevez returns to lead the film.