Award-Winning Filmmaker Fatih Akin To Direct Stephen King’s ‘Firestarter’ For Blumhouse

Stephen King’s “IT” is the new “Iron Man,” right? When “Iron Man” reignited the superhero genre in 2008, studios quickly snatched up the rights to almost everything that was related to superheroes. And after last year’s “IT” took off and became a worldwide phenomenon, studios are snatching up everything and anything related to King. The latest Stephen King property to get the big screen treatment is “Firestarter.”

Yes, “Firestarter” is technically going to be a remake of the 1984 film starring a very young Drew Barrymore as a little girl who, you guessed it, starts fires…with her mind! However, it looks like the folks at Blumhouse and Universal are going back to the King source material for the latest adaptation, and they’ve signed an exciting filmmaker to take the reins, according to Variety.

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Filmmaker Fatih Akin has signed on to direct the sci-fi/horror film for Universal and Blumhouse. If you’re not familiar with Akin’s work, he’s the German filmmaker who has won numerous awards, including the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his film “Head-On,” the Best Screenplay award at Cannes for “The Edge of Heaven,” and recently the Best Foreign Language Film for his 2017 film, “In the Fade.” Needless to say, “Firestarter” will be his most high-profile gig, and if he follows in the footsteps of “IT” filmmaker Andy Muschietti, it could be a huge boost for his career.

Scott Teems, who is probably best known for his work on “Narcos” and “Rectify,” will pen the script for the film. No word on any casting, but all eyes will be on the young actress they get to play the role Barrymore had in the original film.

“Firestarter” joins “IT: Chapter Two,” “Pet Sematary,” and ‘Shining’ sequel “Doctor Sleep” as other films currently in development based on Stephen King novels.