Cameras are now rolling on Firestarter, Universal and Blumhouse's upcoming reboot of Stephen King's 1980 novel about a little girl with pyrokinesis.
Blumhouse took to Twitter to make the announcement, while also sharing a behind-the-scenes video of a flaming stuntman. These type of fire-suit stunts were commonplace back in the day, but obviously began to be phased out once CGI advanced to the point that it could replicate the effect.
It looks like director Keith Thomas (The Vigil) has decided to go old-school for Firestarter!
Zac Efron (Baywatch, The Greatest Showman) is set to star as male lead Andy McGee, while Michael Greyeyes (Fear The Walking Dead, Wild Indian) will play the villainous John Rainbird. No word on who has been cast as Charlie.
King's novel tells the story of a man with psychic abilities who goes on the run with his pyrotechnic daughter when a government agency known as The Shop targets them in order to harness their abilities. They soon find themselves being hunted by a lethal assassin named John Rainbird, and must go to extreme lengths to evade capture.
The script was written by Halloween Kills and Rectify scribe Scott Teems, who will also executive produce alongside Jason Blum, Akiva Goldsman and Martha De Laurentiis.
Firestarter was previously adapted as a 1984 movie starring Drew Barrymore, David Keith, Freddie Jones, Heather Locklear, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott.