The Classic Stephen King Movie John Carpenter Famously Quit is Now Streaming on Max
John Carpenter is a legend, and for most horror fans, his work is sacrosanct. He is the man who brought you Halloween, Big Trouble in Little China, Assault on Precinct 13, and The Thing. With a track record like that one would assume studios were lining up to work with Carpenter in his heyday. And they were. Sort of.
Universal Pictures initially tapped Carpenter to direct the screen adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter. However, when Carpenter’s The Thing failed to meet box office expectations, Universal ultimately replaced him with Class of 1984 director Mark L. Lester. That proved to be a shortsighted decision, seeing as The Thing has gone on to secure its status as one of the greatest horror films of all time, and Lester’s Firestarter didn’t resonate with the majority of fans or critics. But as the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20.
I see merit in Lester’s Firestarter adaptation. I previously penned a soft defense of the film, but I can only imagine that it pales in comparison to what Carpenter would have done with the property.
Carpenter could have made the movie if he wanted to. The Halloween director tapped Bill Phillips to write the Firestarter adaptation for him. Phillips previously penned the screen treatment for Christine. So, the pair had a working relationship.
Phillips shared how things went down in a retrospective interview on his career. He explained that because Carpenter had a pay-or-play deal, he was guaranteed a check no matter what. So, when Universal got cold feet and slashed the budget they’d promised him by $12 million, Carpenter could walk away and did just that. According to Phillips, Carpenter used the check to buy a helicopter. Now that’s living well.
Watch the trailer for Stephen King’s Firestarter:
The setup for Firestarter goes like this: As youths, Andy McGee (David Keith) and his future wife, Vicky (Heather Locklear), participated in secret experiments, allowing themselves to be subjected to mysterious medical tests. Years later, the couple’s daughter, Charlie (Drew Barrymore), begins to exhibit the ability to set fires solely with her mind. This volatile talent makes the youngster extremely dangerous and soon she becomes a target for the enigmatic agency known as “The Shop.”
That’s all we’ve got for you at present. Stay tuned to the site for more behind-the-scenes anecdotes about your favorite filmmakers as we uncover them. Also, be sure to follow @DreadCentral on Twitter (X) so you never miss an update.
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