Netflix’s Next Stephen King Adaptation Cujo Is Seeking Oscar-Nominated Director

Netflix’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Cujo

takes another step forward, with an Oscar-nominated director reportedly a top contender to helm the upcoming film. Released in 1981, King’s novel of the same tells the story of a sweet St. Bernard family pet who becomes a violent killing machine after contracting rabies from a bat, trapping a mother and her son inside a broken-down vehicle outside a mechanic’s shop. Cujo was adapted into a movie in 1983 from director Lewis Teague, and it was announced last week that another take on the novel is now in the works at Netflix.

THR now reports that Darren Aronofsky is in talks to direct Cujo for Netflix, with Roy Lee producing. Lee is a King veteran, having produced both It movies, Salem’s Lot (2024), and Francis Lawrence’s upcoming The Long Walk. There’s currently no writer attached to the Cujo adaptation, but Aronofsky will reportedly be meeting with candidates in the near future. The report notes that Aronofsky already circling the project is a sign that the film is either further long than previously believed or that Netflix is fast-tracking the project.

What Darren Aronofsky Directing Means For Cujo

The Director’s Previous & Upcoming Movies Explained


Natalie Portman's Nina as the Black Swan in Black Swan

Aronofsky has never directed a straight horror movie before, but a number of his films do certainly flirt with the genre. 1998’s Pi, for example, has horror leanings, as do his later films like Black Swan (2010) and Mother! (2017). He is also known for directing movies like Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), The Wrestler (2008), Noah (2014), and the acclaimed The Whale (2022). The last of these films, a drama, won Brendan Fraser a Best Actor Academy Award, and Aronofsky was nominated for Best Director for Black Swan.

If Aronofsky does end up directing Cujo, the movie will seemingly be a bit of a departure for the director, who is currently in post-production on Caught Stealing, a crime thriller starring Austin Butler and Matt Smith. With Netflix seemingly moving ahead with the adaptation at speed, it’s possible that Cujo will be Aronofsky’s next movie. Since a writer hasn’t yet been hired, filming on the movie likely won’t start until the end of this year or at some point in 2026, meaning it could be looking at a 2027 release date.

Caught Stealing hits theaters on August 29, meaning Aronofsky will seemingly soon be able to give Cujo his full attention.

Our Take On Darren Aronofsky Directing The New Cujo Adaptation

Will It Be Scarier Than The Original?


Cujo looking while the mom holds her son in Cujo
Custom image by Fariba Rezwan

The original Cujo features some fairly traumatizing scenes, and there’s reason to believe Aronofsky’s take on the novel won’t be any different. Aronofsky’s movies haven’t shied away from graphic violence and disturbing subject matter in the past, and there are scenes in Black Swan and Mother! that certainly suggest he could end up delivering a far scarier and more distressing take on the King novel than Teague did in 1983.

A clearer picture of what awaits with Cujo will arrive when a writer becomes attached to the project, which sounds like it could happen over the next few weeks. More updates on the adaptation could be to come in the near future, but the Netflix King adaptation is already sounding like a particularly exciting item in the streamer’s upcoming slate.

Source: THR

Related Posts

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Already One Of 2025’s Highest-Grossing Movies 5 Days Into Its Box Office Run

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth Already One Of 2025’s Highest-Grossing Movies 5 Days Into Its Box Office Run

Jurᴀssic World Rebirth has had a tremendous global box office debut. The new release is a standalone sequel and the seventh installment in the dinosaur franchise. The…

10 Recent Martial Arts Films That Feel Like Old-School Kung Fu Movies

10 Recent Martial Arts Films That Feel Like Old-School Kung Fu Movies

Martial arts movies have been having a true renaissance as of late, with many recent kung fu movies evoking the great ’70s classics. It’s easy to think…

Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Makes Groot’s Initial Sacrifice In The Original 2014 Movie So Much More Devastating

Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Makes Groot’s Initial Sacrifice In The Original 2014 Movie So Much More Devastating

After Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Groot’s death to save his teammates is even more upsetting. Guardians of the Galaxy introduced Marvel’s unlikely family of misfits…

John Wick’s Next Spinoff Has A Major Advantage Over The Franchise’s 5M Disappointment

John Wick’s Next Spinoff Has A Major Advantage Over The Franchise’s $105M Disappointment

The John Wick franchise’s upcoming spinoff could potentially help it recover in a major way after its recent disappointment. The action franchise, which stars Keanu Reeves as…

Movie Fans Divided After Jackie Chan Classic Slapped With Content Warning For “Offensive” Moments

Movie Fans Divided After Jackie Chan Classic Slapped With Content Warning For “Offensive” Moments

Jackie Chan’s Rush Hour (1998) remains a classic buddy cop movie, but it now has a warning about its “offensive” humor. The movie stars Chan (Lee) and…

Michael Keaton’s Only Horror Movie Is A 20-Year-Old Stinker That Tore Up The Box Office Rule Book

Michael Keaton’s Only Horror Movie Is A 20-Year-Old Stinker That Tore Up The Box Office Rule Book

Michael Keaton’s only foray into horror, the 2005 film White Noise, bombed with critics yet had a remarkably huge impact on the box office for other horror…