Darren Aronofsky In Talks To Direct New Adaptation Of Stephen King's CUJO For Netflix

Darren Aronofsky In Talks To Direct New Adaptation Of Stephen King's CUJO For Netflix

The Whale director Darren Aronofsky has been confirmed to be in negotiations to helm a new adaptation of Stephen King's killer dog tale, Cujo, for Netflix...

By MarkCassidy - Mar 18, 2025 12:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Horror
Source: Via FearHQ

We found out last week that a new take on Stephen King's killer dog novel, Cujo, is in the works for Netflix, and the project may have nabbed a somewhat surprising director.

According to Jeff Sneider in his latest newsletter (and since backed up by THR), Darren Aronofsky (The Whale, Noah, Pi) is in negotiations to helm the movie.

Though some would consider this the filmmaker's first foray into the horror genre, that's certainly debatable. Aronofsky has included horror elements in a number of his previous films, and many would view the likes of Mother!, Black Swan, and even Requiem for a Dream to be full-on horror movies.

King's novel focuses on a mother and her young seizer-prone son being terrorized by a huge St. Bernard who becomes a rabid killing machine after being bitten by a bat. 

Cujo was previously adapted for the big screen back in 1983, with Lewis Teague directing from a screenplay by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner. The movie stars E.T. and The Howling actress Dee Wallace as Donna Trenton and Danny Pintauro as her son, Tad, with Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Christopher Stone, Ed Lauter, Kaiulani Lee, Billy Jacoby, Mills Watson, Jerry Hardin, Sandy Ward, and Arthur Rosenberg in supporting roles.

Despite mixed review from critics, the movie was a moderate success and a fairly faithful retelling of the novel, so it'll be interesting to see how Aronofsky approaches the story. It also remains to be seen if he stays on board. Aronofsky has been attached to a number of high-profile projects over the years - including Batman, Watchmen, RoboCop and The Wolverine - before ultimately deciding to step away.

There are several other King adaptations either out now in theaters (The Monkey) or streaming (Salem's Lot), with plenty more on the way (Mike Flanagan’s The Life of Chuck, Francis Lawrence’s The Long Walk, and Edgar Wright’s currently in production The Running Man). 

Would you be up for a new take on Cujo directed by Darren Aronofsky? Let us know in the comment section down below.

"In this tale of a killer canine, man's best friend turns into his worst enemy. When sweet St. Bernard Cujo is bitten by a bat, he starts behaving oddly and becomes very aggressive. As Cujo morphs into a dangerous beast, he goes on a rampage in a small town. Stay-at-home mom Donna (Dee Wallace) gets caught in Cujo's crosshairs on a fateful errand with her son, Tad (Danny Pintauro). Stuck in their tiny car, Donna and Tad have a frightening showdown with the crazed animal."

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ARegularCrab
ARegularCrab - 3/18/2025, 12:18 PM
*wet fart sound*
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/18/2025, 12:27 PM
Cujo will be a female Rottweiler.

Representation matters.

But only in the West.

Homogeny matters in art everywhere outside of North America, Europe, and Australia.
UncleHarm1
UncleHarm1 - 3/18/2025, 4:34 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - Ur championing dog racism now?
Waifuslayer2
Waifuslayer2 - 3/18/2025, 12:39 PM
.... Wut? Why? He can do so much better.
Gambito
Gambito - 3/18/2025, 12:39 PM
Terrible choice I mean yes he has the credentials but there’s a cheesy charm to the original story and movie that he’ll never be able to achieve earnestly
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 3/18/2025, 12:45 PM
Cool, I liked Black Swan and The Wrestler.
FinnishDude
FinnishDude - 3/18/2025, 12:46 PM
Having read the original book and the film adaptation, I really don't see what a remake could bring to the table. While no masterpiece or anything, the movie was effective smaller thriller and the changes made in adaptation were good changes.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 3/18/2025, 1:02 PM
I'll watch anything this guy does.
S8R8M
S8R8M - 3/18/2025, 1:09 PM
Is the dog going use the dildo in Requiem to beat the prostitutes?
McMurdo
McMurdo - 3/18/2025, 2:16 PM
Good luck replacing Dee Wallace.
ToldYaSo
ToldYaSo - 3/18/2025, 2:18 PM
Is this industry actually so devoid of talent and imagination that it has to remake what has already been done about as well as it can? The original was horrifying! What's next...JAWS?
(Perish the thought...)
ElJefe
ElJefe - 3/18/2025, 2:37 PM
I’ll go for it but only if Cujo is a chihuahua
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/18/2025, 2:54 PM
Darren Aronofsky finna make Cujo mount a male dog.

✅️
✅️
✅️
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✅️
✅️
DocSpock
DocSpock - 3/18/2025, 7:40 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea -

I agree with you on a lot of things. But don't use trash ghetto slang. Finna ugh.
mountainman
mountainman - 3/18/2025, 3:05 PM
Let me know when we get more concrete news on The Dark Tower. That’s by far King’s best work and we need a good adaptation.

Would be cool if we finally got a good adaptation of The Stand too. Both previous ones were majorly lacking.
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 3/18/2025, 3:06 PM
I'd definitely watch it. The movie on the whole wasn't my favorite, but as far as Aronofsky's latest, Brendan Fraser was incredible in The Whale! At least a couple of moments in that movie will get me shedding tears no question.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 3/18/2025, 4:49 PM
@IAmAHoot -

🐳
🗑
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 3/18/2025, 5:07 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - What don't you like about it?
TheOtherOn
TheOtherOn - 3/18/2025, 3:11 PM
For today's times?

Cujo MUST be a Samoyed!

User Comment Image

Balance must be maintained, white to black and black to white.

1stDalek
1stDalek - 3/18/2025, 10:21 PM
Interesting choice, he's a pretty good director but all of his films are overly serious stuff. I don't know how fit he is with the campy nature of this story, the concept is a little too silly to take wholly seriously.

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