Has any author had more of their works adapted for the big screen, bar William Shakespeare, than Stephen King? (That's a rhetorical question, but we're pretty sure the answer is "no.") Well, Peacock has just announced another for the roster — this one starring erstwhile Disney star Zac Efron as a father whose daughter boasts spooky pyrotechnical abilities. The streamer has just released a trailer to the fiery flick, Firestarter, the second adaptation of King's story after 1984's version of the same name, featuring Drew Barrymore.
This one puts American Horror Story alumnus Ryan Kiera Armstrong in the red-hot role. The trailer reveals how her character, Charlie, struggles with her abilities — not least because she's a child, and we know how kids can be with their feelings. One scene sees her blow a cubical door off its hinges in a plume of fiery gas. On top of those struggles, she's also being tracked down by a nefarious government agency who want to harness her explosive powers for war. As one character notes, one day she could be as powerful as a nuclear weapon. Yikes!
The score, especially, sounds electrifying: and it would, because it was composed by legendary horror hound John Carpenter, along with fellow Halloween franchise composers Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies. Firestarter is directed by Keith Thomas, from a screenplay by Halloween Kills' writer Scott Teems, and is produced for Blumhouse by Jason Blum. Akiva Goldsman produces for Weed Road Pictures.
Firestarter, also starring Sydney Lemmon, Michael Greyeyes, Kurtwood Smith, John Beasley, and Gloria Reuben, premieres in theaters and on Peacock on May 13. Check out the all-new trailer below:
And here's the official synopsis for Firestarter:
"For more than a decade, parents Andy (Zac Efron; Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, The Greatest Showman) and Vicky (Sydney Lemmon; Fear the Walking Dead, Succession) have been on the run, desperate to hide their daughter Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong; American Horror Story: Double Feature, The Tomorrow War) from a shadowy federal agency that wants to harness her unprecedented gift for creating fire into a weapon of mass destruction. Andy has taught Charlie how to defuse her power, which is triggered by anger or pain. But as Charlie turns 11, the fire becomes harder and harder to control. After an incident reveals the family’s location, a mysterious operative (Michael Greyeyes; Wild Indian, Rutherford Falls) is deployed to hunt down the family and seize Charlie once and for all. Charlie has other plans."