Netflix has given a green light to a movie reboot of the Stephen King novel Cujo, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.
Roy Lee will produce the remake of the horror story about a mother and son who fight off a rabid dog while trapped in their car. Cujo was first adapted from King’s 1981 psychological horror novel of the same name where Cujo is at first a lovable St. Bernard, but after being bitten by a bat becomes everyone’s worst enemy.
In the 1983 film Cujo, a mother, Donna (Dee Wallace), and her son, Tad (Danny Pintauro) come into contact with Cujo and must fight for their lives. King’s novels, starting with 1976’s Carrie, have long been picked up by Hollywood for movie adaptations.
These include book-to-screen adaptations of The Shining, The Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, It and the sequel It Chapter Two. Other recent adaptations include Lewis Pullman and Alfre Woodard starring in the horror drama Salem’s Lot, a Max series about an author who returns to his hometown in search of creative inspiration, only to find it under attack by a monster.
Mike Flanagan also worked with King on adaptations of Life of Chuck, Doctor Sleep and Gerald’s Game. Lionsgate picked up the rights to King’s 1979 dystopian novel The Long Walk and attached Francis Lawrence to direct.
It helps that over his long career King published around 65 novels and over 200 short stories, many of which sold worldwide and were snapped up for film and TV adaptations.