Published in 1983, Stephen King‘s Pet Sematary has thus far been adapted twice for the big screen, first by Mary Lambert in 1989 and then by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer in 2019. Mary Lambert also directed a sequel to her Pet Sematary, which was released in 1992, and now a brand new prequel story is headed to Paramount+ sometime next year.
One filmmaker who would love to take a crack at King’s disturbing novel? Guillermo del Toro, whose new movie Nightmare Alley is coming exclusively to theaters on December 17.
Speaking with Scott Wampler and Eric Vespe on The Kingcast, part of the Fangoria Podcast Network, del Toro recently expressed his desire to head into King’s Pet Sematary.
“You know the novel that I would have killed to adapt, and I know there’s two versions of it, and I still think maybe in a deranged universe I get to do it again one day, is Pet Sematary,” del Toro tells The Kingcast.
The Oscar-winning filmmaker adds, “Because it not only has the very best final couple of lines of the King oeuvre, but it scared me when I was a young man. As a father, I now understand it better than I ever would have, and it scares me a hundred times more.
“I’d love to be able to do it.”
You can listen to The Kingcast’s full chat with Guillermo del Toro below. Jump to 17-minutes into the chat for del Toro’s thoughts on Pet Sematary, and what he’d like to do with it.
