I'm Relieved John Carpenter's Cult Classic Stephen King Movie No Longer Seems To Be Getting A Remake

I have real affection for John Carpenter’s take on Christine, so I’m somewhat relieved the planned remake of the Stephen King novel appears to have stalled. Despite being the best John Carpenter movie, The Thing was a critical and commercial dud upon its arrival in 1982. Its violence and nihilism repulsed audiences and critics alike, and Carpenter was soon fired from his planned adaptation of the Stephen King book Firestarter. His next movie was instead based on another King novel, Christine, but Carpenter has since admitted he only took the film because he needed a job.

It speaks to what a pro Carpenter is that even though he didn’t find the book scary and wasn’t emotionally invested in the adaptation that Christine still works so well. It boasts a great performance by Keith Gordon at its center, features one of Carpenter’s best music scores and delivers some thrilling setpieces. The movie’s reception was mixed; reviews were decent if unenthused, while Christine grossed a modest $21 million (via Box Office Mojo) on a $10 million budget. It’s amᴀssed a loyal following, though, and a Bryan Fuller Christine remake has been in development for years.

What’s Going On With The Christine Remake?

The Christine remake appears to have stalled

Bryan Fuller Car from Christine pamela voorhees

In June 2021, it was announced that Fuller and Blumhouse were revving up a new take on Christine. A lifelong King fan himself, Fuller later took to The Kingcast podcast to talk about his love for the book and how his version would differ from Carpenter’s. While a fan of the 1983 version, Fuller stated his movie would be way more faithful. For instance, instead of just making Christine herself an evil car, Fuller’s reboot would restore the idea that Arnie was being possessed by the spirit of Christine’s previous owner, Roland LeBay.

While Fuller submitted a script to King in late 2021, little has been heard of his remake in the aftermath. In the years since, Fuller attached himself to oversee the Friday the 13th prequel series Crystal Lake, only to exit the show in 2024 over creative differences. He also wrote and directed his feature debut, Dust Bunny, a horror movie starring his Hannibal leading man Mads Mikkelsen and Sigourney Weaver; the movie’s release date is currently TBC.

It’s possible Fuller’s Christine remake is just stuck in development but will eventually move ahead, but for me, I kind of hope it doesn’t happen.

It’s possible Fuller’s involvement with these projects pushed back his involvement with Christine, but the near total radio silence since 2021 isn’t a good sign. It likely didn’t help that several other King remakes like Firestarter and Salem’s Lot were greeted with shrugs. It’s possible Fuller’s remake is just stuck in development but will eventually move ahead, but for me, I kind of hope it doesn’t happen. Fuller is such a unique voice I’d love to see him create his own original work instead.

John Carpenter’s Christine Doesn’t Need A Remake

Even if Stephen King finds it “boring”

For his part, Carpenter has no issues with Fuller remaking Christine, stating to Total Film in 2023: “Well, good luck to him. It will probably be better.” Carpenter has softened his stance on his adaptation over the years, coming to recognize that a lot of people love it for its sometimes painful look at teen adolescence and jealousy, and the tearing apart of a male friendship – in this case caused by a demonic car. Again, it’s not that scary, but Carpenter still conjured up an atmospheric chiller.

It’s a movie that might underwhelm on initial viewing (as it did for me, admittedly), but Christine gets better every time you rewatch it. It could be argued it’s too long and in need of a 10 to 15-minute trim, and some of the performances by the younger cast are lacking, but these are minor faults. One person who wasn’t a fan was King, with the author calling Carpenter’s Christine “… kind of boring,” and that he would have preferred a bad film to a dull one (via Dreamcatcher: The Shooting Script).

Carpenter admittedly trimmed a lot of material from the book, but most of his cuts were smart. There is no way to neatly pack such a thick novel into a two-hour runtime, so a lot of character details and subtext were lost. Fuller could no doubt dig into those elements, but if that were to happen, a miniseries adaptation of Christine feels like a better fit than a new film.

Stephen King Movie Remakes Rarely Improve On The Original

King remakes could use a nice long break

Salem's Lot 2024 Callahan Barlow vampire Susan — Custom image by Adrienne Tyler.

King is one of the most adapted authors of all time, and most of his books have received movie to TV translations. In fact, the most popular novels like Carrie, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, and so on have received multiple versions – but almost none have improved on the original. Remakes like 2013’s Carrie or Firestarter sold themselves on being truer to the source material, which did little to elevate them above the previous films in terms of box office or reviews.

Ironically, one of Bryan Fuller’s first big projects was writing the pilot for a proposed Carrie TV series; the pilot later aired as a standalone TV film in 2002 that was poorly received.

It could be argued that IT: Chapter One was better than the 1990s miniseries, but even then, the latter is still deeply creepy. If Fuller remains attached, a Christine remake might have merit, but if it moves forward it will probably be with a different director who will sand the most interesting elements off – which will only highlight how good Carpenter’s take was.

Source: Box Office Mojo, The Kingcast, Total Film