The Stephen King mythos is comprised of countless iconic novels, short stories, and adaptations of these works. Now it’s been revealed that Netflix has plans to remake an iconic Stephen King movie based on one of his most successful novels.
Netflix has already adapted several King stories as feature films. These titles include 1922, In the Tall Grass, and Gerald’s Game. The newly-announced adaptation, however, will be adapting a much bigger story than all of the above.
The project currently does not have any writers, directors, or cast members attached. Now that the deal has been inked, however, it’s clear that Netflix is putting this project on the fast-track.
As shared via Deadline:
“Netflix has made a deal to turn the Stephen King bestselling novel Cujo into a new feature film. Roy Lee is producing, and they will go out to writers immediately.”
Cujo is one of Stephen King’s best remembered novels, having been published in 1981, and it quickly made the story’s titular St. Bernard one of the scariest animals in fiction.
Cujo was quickly adapted as a feature film and in 1983 it was released to theaters. With a $6 million budget, it grossed $21.2 million at the box office, and continued to grow a cult following. The killer dog has been referenced in numerous forms of media in the years since, including some of King’s own stories, and Cujo has never really left the pop culture world since.
Now fans will have the opportunity to see Stephen King’s Cujo adapted in a more modern context. Though details aren’t available at this time, one can only imagine it will retell the original story about a woman and her son trapped in a car while a rabid St. Bernard, the one named Cujo, waits outside.
Lewis Teague directed the 1983 adaptation from a screenplay by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner. It starred Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Danny Pintauro, Ed Lauter, and Christopher Stone.
Cujo is also notable for being one of King’s horror stories that doesn’t rely on the supernatural. As such, we’ll have to see how the Netflix movie adaptation for this classic Stephen King story pans out. Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates as we have them.