‘Firestarter’ Remake With Zac Efron Debuts Trailer, Sets Day-and-Date Release on Peacock

Ethan Shanfeld
·2 min read
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A remake of Stephen King’s “Firestarter,” starring Zac Efron, debuted its official trailer and announced a day-and-date premiere on Peacock and in theaters on May 13.

The film, based on King’s 1980 novel and the 1984 original movie, follows Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), a young girl who develops pyrokinetic superpowers and is captured by a government agency who wishes to use her gift as a weapon. Sydney Lemmon will play Charlie’s mother, while Efron plays her father. Michael Greyeyes, Gloria Reuben, Kurtwood Smith and John Beasley also star.

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The explosive trailer sees Armstrong’s Charlie taking on bad guys with fire as her parents try to protect her. “She just has to shove it down and keep it hidden,” Efron says in the trailer. “Our responsibility is to protect her. If they catch her, they’re gonna put her in a cage. They’re gonna run tests on her for the rest of her life. We’ll never see her again.”

Keith Thomas directs a screenplay adapted by writer Scott Teems. “Firestarter” is produced by Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions and Weed Road Productions. The late Martha De Laurentiis, who served as an associate producer on the 1984 film, executive produces the remake alongside producers Jason Blum and Akiva Goldsman, who previously teamed on the “Paranormal Activity” franchise. The original “Firestarter” film starred Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott.

King — whose extensive horror and fantasy catalog has seen successful screen adaptions of “It,” “The Shining,” “Carrie,” “The Dark Tower,” “Pet Sematary” and more — is also in early negotiations with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot for an “Billy Summers” limited series.

Watch the trailer below.

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