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Pet Sematary remake news
"Pet Sematary," the adaptation of the Stephen King novel that scared the shirt off many teens (including a certain film reporter) in 1989, is making strides back to the big screen too.
Matthew Greenberg, the writer of "1408" (also based on a King work), is set to turn in his script for a new version of the tale, according to a person briefed on the project who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. And executives at studio Paramount have put out the word to at least two representatives in the agent community that they are seeking a high-level director to tackle the material.
The original, which starred Fred Gwynne, told of a zombie-raising pet cemetery that afflicts a family that's just moved to small-town Maine. Events unfold with a mix of death (both animal and human), resurrections and creepy Gothic spaces. (Mary Lambert's movie also spawned a poorly received sequel in 1992.)
As much as King seems to embody a kind of quintessentially 1980s form of horror storytelling, he's never really gone away in Hollywood. Indeed, there's something of a King renaissance going on now, with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's ambitious plan to turn "The Dark Tower" trilogy into a feature-film and television franchise, an "It" reboot kicking around at Warner Bros and a big-screen version of the "The Stand" from CBS Films and Warner Bros. Stephen King properties never go away...they just come back from the dead.
>>> Source
Matthew Greenberg, the writer of "1408" (also based on a King work), is set to turn in his script for a new version of the tale, according to a person briefed on the project who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. And executives at studio Paramount have put out the word to at least two representatives in the agent community that they are seeking a high-level director to tackle the material.
The original, which starred Fred Gwynne, told of a zombie-raising pet cemetery that afflicts a family that's just moved to small-town Maine. Events unfold with a mix of death (both animal and human), resurrections and creepy Gothic spaces. (Mary Lambert's movie also spawned a poorly received sequel in 1992.)
As much as King seems to embody a kind of quintessentially 1980s form of horror storytelling, he's never really gone away in Hollywood. Indeed, there's something of a King renaissance going on now, with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's ambitious plan to turn "The Dark Tower" trilogy into a feature-film and television franchise, an "It" reboot kicking around at Warner Bros and a big-screen version of the "The Stand" from CBS Films and Warner Bros. Stephen King properties never go away...they just come back from the dead.
>>> Source
Comments
While Fred Gwynne and the boy were great, the leads never really worked for me. Plus the ghost aspect of the story did not work successfully in the movie version.
But that cat! Oh man! Freakiest cinema cat I have ever come across. Still gives me the willies.
Aja certainly qualifies on that count and has proven – repeatedly – that he’s not shy about remaking beloved material. His name turns up on a lot of wishlists for this sort of project but Pet Sematary has moved beyond that stage with Paramount now actively trying to sign him up. The key issue here will no doubt to come down to Aja’s schedule but with his next big project – Cobra: The Space Pirate – still looking for money and not scheduled to shoot until 2013 there’s no reason at all he couldn’t fit this in first.
Aja, who helmed the remakes of “Piranha” and “The Hills Have Eyes” and who is currently involved in a TV series based on the David Cronenberg flick “Scanners”, might be a good fit for “Sematary”, which like the 1988 film is based on a book by Stephen King. Aja likes his films bloody, scary but also encompassing a sense of fun and if there’s one thing “Sematary” is… it’s… well, it’s all those things.
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Several high profile directors, chief among them Guillermo del Toro put their hands up to direct once it became apparent Paramount was shopping for a director, but it seems Paramount has eyes only for French director Alexandre Aja (of Haute Tension infamy) and his experience in directing visceral and somewhat gory remakes such as The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha and Mirrors.
It seems that this film may start filming sometime next year, with Aja currently busy directing another Paramount film in late 2013.
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Buhler, who is known to genre audiences for scripting 2008’s Clive Barker-inspired Midnight Meat Train and writing and directing that year’s feature Insanitarium (and who is also penning the remake of the 1990 film Jacob’s Ladder for LD Entertainment and Ghost House Pictures’ re-launch of The Grudge franchise), said of Pet Sematary, "I’ve been working with Juan Carlos on his rebooted, re-imagined version."
He added, "Paramount had a script from Matt Greenburg and then brought Juan Carlos on, and they were looking to do some work on the script, and then I came in. Juan Carlos and I collaborated on a new outline for the film, Paramount loved our pitch, and I’ve been writing the first draft of the script. It’s very exciting."
Commenting on the original 1989 horror classic, which was directed by Mary Lambert and based on the novel of the same name by horror legend Stephen King, "The original has a very special place in my heart," said Buhler. “The film fits perfectly in the time period [in which it was produced], and the source material is one of the Stephen King books that I read as a teenager that made me flip out, and I’ve read it more than once since then. It’s a fantastic book and a fantastic story.”
With the narrative revolving around a family that moves into a new home next to a cemetery with powers that allow the creatures buried in it to come back from the dead, Buhler stated of his approach to the remake, “Now that I’m a father and I have a six-year old and a two-year old, all of the horror within that story that comes from losing a child is suddenly very real and tangible and utterly tragic [to me]. I think the one element that we are trying to bring to this version of Pet Sematary is a sense of truth and honesty in the horror and really take it back to the original material. I think that in the 80’s movie it’s a little campy in places, and we are trying to get away from all of that and really get back to the core of the story, which is that of the family dealing with grief from the loss of their child and the horror of breaking the laws of nature as a result of that. Juan Carlos in particular is very focused on the emotional elements and how they could be represented in a visual context that is compelling.”
“We are being very respectful to the book,” he continued, “and we are not tying ourselves to anything in the first two films at all. We are [also] bringing in some fresh elements that speak to the spirit of the story that aren’t in either one.”
“If you look at the core of it, of what’s going on with the family, it’s an absolutely disturbing story,” Buhler offered. “I think the heart of the story has to do with Louis and his relationship with his kids and grappling with that dilemma when kids ask you what happens when you die and what you believe in. It deals with these big questions in such a personal way, and that is classic Stephen King. They are huge ideas, but they are told through a very identifiable, close-knit family unit, and that’s so powerful so we are just immersing ourselves in that - the loss, the grief, and the horrific results of people making really, really bad decisions.”
As for the tone of the script as it pertains to the eventual film’s intended rating, “I try not to get too hung up on that while writing, especially because this isn’t like a Texas Chainsaw where there’s going to be a lot of ripped open abdomens and people chewing on intestines or anything like that,” he said. “It’s already going to exist somewhere on that line between R and PG-13. If the studio feels like they need to market it as PG-13, then it will be the most hardcore PG-13 movie you could get away with. There are a couple of deaths, but with this one the horror is a little more atmospheric. The big concern of course is that you are killing children, which studios are always loathe to do, but it’s a King story and that’s at the center of it so Paramount knows what they are getting into. There’s no question that kids are gonna die.”
“We’ll be done with the first draft by the end of the summer,” Buhler said of the current status of Pet Sematary, which is being produced for Paramount by Lorenzo DiBonaventura and Mark Varhadian.
“Juan Carlos and I have been working very closely from the beginning so I think the process will be very quick. It’s not going to be one of those situations where there’s a script that the studio likes but then they bring on a director who has a bunch of new ideas and then it goes back into the scripting process for another six months. Because we are doing everything with the director from the beginning, hopefully we won’t be far from where we need to be [with the first draft] when we are done.”
Buhler said he has spent the last three months fine tuning the script with Fresnadillo, who is perhaps best known for his film "28 Weeks Later," a follow up to the zombie film "28 Days Later." "Pet Sematary," which also boasts producers Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider, is in the early stages of planning for pre-production.
"The characters in this script make some tragic decisions, and the horror is about the ramifications of those decisions," Buhler told Dread Central. "There are still the supernatural aspects of the book, with the pet cemetery and the burial ground from which things come back from the dead."
Buhler also spoke about how the original 1989 film, which was directed by Mary Lambert, displayed certain classic horror tropes particular to its time. According to Buhler, the new script concentrates on the more emotional side of King's story, maintaining the horror elements, but dropping the cheesier aspects like Gage's post-resurrection catch phrases.
As for the anticipated start date for production, Buhler revealed that the team is still trying to nail down a budget with Paramount. Once approved, he said that the script will be ready to go upon Fresnadillo's return from New York in August.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian are producing the remake to the 1989 horror classic, which was directed by Mary Lambert and written by King, along with Steven Schneider. Jeff Buhler and David Kajganich wrote the script, and Alexandra Loewy is executive producing for Paramount.
The original “Pet Sematary” was based on the King novel, which follows the travails of a family who moves into a new home next to a cemetery endowed with powers that allow the creatures buried in it to come back from the dead.
The original brought in $57 million on an $11 million budget, which led to a less commercially successful 1992 sequel starring Edward Furlong and Anthony Edwards.
Paramount had been ramping up its director search since the success of “It,” with directors like Sean Carter and “47 Meters Down” helmer Johannes Roberts also meeting to possibly take on the role.
The film will be directed by Kevin Klosch and Dennis Widmyer. Jeff Buhler adapted the script from the novel. Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Steven Schneider and Mark Vahradian will produce.
The movie, which will shoot this summer with plans to be in theaters April 19, 2019, has already cast Jason Clarke as Louis Creed, the dad who strikes up a close friendship with the old-timer next door.
The role of Jud Crandall was previously played by the late Fred Gwynne in the 1989 adaptation of King’s novel. At 72, Lithgow is a decade younger than the character of Jud, who was 83 in the book, but a decade older than Gwynne, who was only 62 at the time he played the role.
Lithgow actually fits the part just as neat as you please.
In the 1984 book, here’s how King describes Louis seeing Jud for the first time: “He turned and saw an old man of perhaps seventy — a hale and healthy seventy — standing there on the grass. He wore a biballs over a blue chambray shirt that showed his thickly folded and wrinkled neck. His face was sunburned, and he was smoking an unfiltered cigarette. He held his hand out and smiled crookedly…a smile Louis liked at once.”
Later, Louis is shocked to learn that Jud is actually much older. (It’s not the last thing that takes him by surprise in this story.)
The new version of Pet Sematary will be directed by Starry Eyes filmmakers Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch, with a script by Jeff Buhler (showrunner of Syfy’s George R.R. Martin space series Nightflyers.)
Pet Sematary is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, best known for the Transformers movies and the 2007 King adaptation 1408, which starred John Cusack as a writer who spends a mindbending night in a haunted hotel room.
The other producers are Mark Vahradian, another veteran of the Transformers series, and Steven Schneider, best known for the Insidious movies.
Plans for the remake were in the works for several years, but the success of It last year, as well as the popularity of Netflix’s King adaptations Gerald’s Game, 1922, and Hulu’s JFK assassination thriller 11/22/63, put Pet Sematary on the fast track.
One strange bit of trivia: Lithgow just won the Emmy for best supporting actor in a drama series for playing Winston Churchill on The Crown. The name of the family cat in Pet Sematary that comes back…?
Church.
Short for Winston Churchill.
The horror film, which just began shooting this week in Montreal, stars Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz as a couple who move their young family to the Maine countryside. They discover a bizarre burial ground for beloved pets in the woods behind their property, and it turns out to be the gateway to something else … unspeakable.
Ten-year-old Jeté Laurence will play Ellie, a sweet and sensitive young girl who adores her cat Winston Churchill, or “Church” for short, and wins over the heart of the old-timer who lives next door (played by John Lithgow.) Three-year-old twins Hugo Lavoie and Lucas Lavoie will play Gage, her toddler little brother — who is prone to wandering into trouble.
The film, directed by Starry Eyes filmmakers Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch, will be a first for the Lavoie brothers, whose parents auditioned them after seeing a casting notice on Facebook, but Laurence already has a long career at a young age.
She co-starred with Michael Fassbender in last year’s thriller The Snowman, and she has had roles on Marvel’s Jessica Jones, Sneaky Pete, Friends From College and played the childhood version of Paige onThe Americans. She is represented by CESD, Zoom Talent Management, and Peikoff/Mahan.
Paramount Pictures also released this official synopsis: “Based on the seminal horror novel by Stephen King, Pet Sematary follows Dr. Louis Creed (Clarke), who, after relocating with his wife Rachel (Seimetz) and their two young children from Boston to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near the family’s new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his unusual neighbor, Jud Crandall (Lithgow), setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences.”
The producers are Lorenzo di Bonaventura, whose credits include the Transformers movies and the 2007 King adaptation 1408; Mark Vahradian, another veteran of the Transformers series, and Steven Schneider, best known for the Insidious movies.
The script has been adapted by by Jeff Buhler, showrunner of Syfy’s George R.R. Martin space series Nightflyers.
Pet Sematary is scheduled to open on April 19, 2019.
Read more at https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/1078259-exclusive-pet-sematary-deleted-scene-with-jason-clarke#gHLLhm5xQJD1aLyp.99
According to a new THR report though, a remake materialized when it did because King let the studio know he would be taking back the rights in two years, thanks to a provision of U.S. copyright law.
This particular feature of U.S. copyright law, added by congress in the 1970s, allows the original author of a creative work to reclaim the rights to that work during a limited period, once the 35-year mark has passed since the original release. Notice of such a move has to be given two years in advance, which King did here, leading Paramount to try and get one more slice out of the Pet Sematary pie before they no longer owned the rights to the property. While Paramount could certainly negotiate a new deal with King afterward, they won't be able to make anything Pet Sematary-related without his permission.
2018 marked 35 years since Pet Sematary's original publication, so King presumably now controls the rights once again, although THR's report doesn't specify that. Even if he did get the rights back last year though, it wouldn't have effected the remake, as projects already in the works before the transfer can still go ahead unobstructed. While a copyright lawsuit involving the rights to Friday the 13th started to make more people aware of this 35-year provision last year, King was actually ahead of the game, already reportedly working on reacquiring the rights to such works as Children of the Corn, Cujo, and The Dead Zone back in 2016.
Pet Sematary, Stephen King’s self-proclaimed scariest property ever, next installment in the franchise has gained momentum as it looks like it has found its director. Sources tell Deadline, Lindsey Beer has signed on to direct Paramount Players’ follow-up adaptation of the successful 2019 horror pic based on Stephen King’s best-seller. Beer has become one of busiest screenwriters and this will mark her directing debut. The classic 1989 adaptation made history with Mary Lambert directing the pic and its 1992 follow-up and it was important to studio execs to go back to the films roots and have a female filmmaker at the helm. Beer has wanted to jump into the directing the chair and saw this as a perfect opportunity. Beer also wrote the latest script based off a draft by Jeff Buhler.
Plot details are unknown at this time. The original story, which the 1989 and 2019 pic was also loosely based on, with their own different twists, followed a family, who after tragedy strikes, a grieving father discovers an ancient burial ground behind his home with the power to raise the dead.
My sentimental favorite will always be the first one. But, I felt the second one was better. That ending was as chilling as they come. Haunted me.
So many things to adapt, why another Pet Sematary?
I love to see creativity and I love to see people's visions on his work. So different. But, I'm getting old. Quit revisiting and be sparked by something that has never been done and can completely be an original vision aside from the writing.