Movies
Could Kevin Smith Have Penned the ‘Cujo’ Remake?
Now that Stephen King is hotter than ever, he’s become a hot topic of conversation. The remakes are running rampant, with a new take on Cujo allegedly being worked on as of five years ago. In fact, Kevin Smith tells Hollywood Babble-On he was once offered the opportunity to pen the remake.
When Smith posed the question as to what Stephen King stories they’d like to see adapted, the topic of Cujo came up.
“I thought that was done well enough the first time,” Smith stated before revealing, “At one point, somebody called up to see if I’d be interested in writing a new Cujo.
“I was like, ‘I like dogs too much, f*ck you!’,” he joked.
It’s unclear who owns the rights, or owned the rights at the time, making this following story hard to dissect. First, when did this event occur? Was this during Smith’s perceived prime? You know, before he blew it all with Cop Out? Or, was he allegedly approached when he was making films like Red State, Tusk, and Yoga Hosers? It also begs the question, if he was offered the opportunity to write, does this also mean there were expectations for him to direct? Furthermore, Smith drops this info so nonchalantly that we don’t even consider that he was just offered the opportunity to pitch.
“What ifs” are always fun to me, especially considering that we could have seen a Cujo film starring Johnny Depp as Guy Lapointe (I kid).
As for the rabid dog, I think it’s safe to say we’ll see a new adaptation soon, especially during King’s hot streak that shows no signs of slowing down.
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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