The Stephen King renaissance is on full blast following the success of IT, so it’s no surprise that Paramount is moving full speed ahead on its new adaptation of his 1983 horror novel Pet Sematary. Variety reports that the studio has hired Starry Eyes directors Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer to helm the remake. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian will produce.

For those unfamiliar with King’s novel, it follows a family that lives near a Native American burial ground. When their cat dies, they bury in the pet cemetery that’s on top of the burial ground. The cat comes back, but it’s twisted and kind of evil, and that’s really on the start of the family’s problems. The book was previously adapted in 1989 by Mary Lambert with King penning the script. It led to a 1992 sequel starring Edward Furlong and Anthony Edwards.

I’ll be interested to see what Kolsch and Widmyer do with the materal. I haven’t seen Starry Eyes, but I’ve heard good things about it. Additionally, the success of IT has shown other studios that given the right material, marketing campaign, and timing, there’s no reason an R-rated horror film can’t be one of the biggest hits of the year. It will be interesting to see if Pet Sematary can stay on the fast track and if it will continue the trend of successful King adaptations following IT, Gerald's Game, and 1922.

Check out the trailer for the original 1989 film below.

Here's the official synopsis for Stephen King's Pet Sematary:

When the Creeds move into a beautiful old house in rural Maine, it all seems too good to be true: physician father, beautiful wife, charming little daughter, adorable infant son—and now an idyllic home. As a family, they’ve got it all…right down to the friendly cat.

 

But the nearby woods hide a blood-chilling truth—more terrifying than death itself...and hideously more powerful.

The Creeds are going to learn that sometimes dead is better.