Universal Pictures to Reboot FIRESTARTER

Universal Pictures is teaming up with Dino De Laurentiis Co. to rekindle the flame that was their 1984 sci-fi/horror flick Firestarter.  Based on Stephen King’s 1980 novel of the same name, the original starred Drew Barrymore as Charlie McGee, a young girl who is sought by a government agency for her pyrokinetic abilities.  Mark L. Smith (Vacancy) is currently working on the script with the hopes of getting the project out to directors and into production sometime next year.

According to Variety, the Universal/De Laurentiis production team is looking to make the film a “franchise property” with the latter party citing a “timeless concept” as well as “recent visual effects advances” as key motivators in its reboot.  While plot specifics are limited as of now, it is believed that firebug Charlie McGee will be reinvented with “a little more edge” this time around (apparently starting fires at will isn’t quite enough edge for desensitized 21st century moviegoers).  Although it never received a theatrical follow-up, the original Firestarter was proceeded in 2002 by a Syfy television miniseries entitled Firestarter 2: Rekindled.