One of Stephen King‘s most enduring tales of terror is getting a remake. Netflix has a new version of 1981’s canine chiller Cujo in the works. Deadline reports that the streamer is looking for screenwriters for the new project.
The project is set to be produced by Roy Lee, who has produced a number of recent horror hits, including Companion, Strange Darling, and Barbarian. It joins a litany of other King projects currently in the works. The Monkey, Osgood Perkins‘ adaptation of King‘s classic short story, is in theaters now, while Mike Flanagan‘s The Life of Chuck, Edgar Wright‘s The Running Man, and Francis Lawrence‘s The Long Walk, are all set to hit theaters this year, while series based on his more recent works Fairy Tale and The Institute are in development. While Cujo was previously made into a film in 1983, Collider‘s Dana Noraas argued that it was deserving of a remake: she argues that the original film features “dated cinematography, overly dramatic musical score interjecting at odd times, and unfortunately … some poor acting,” leaving a lot of room for improvement.
What Is ‘Cujo’ About?
Cujo centers around a massive St. Bernard dog of the same name; he’s gentle and lovable until he’s bitten by a rabid bat in the woods surrounding Castle Rock, Maine, turning him into a lumbering killing machine. After killing his owner, an abusive auto mechanic, he goes on a rampage. His path crosses that of Donna Trenton, a recent transplant from New York City whose marriage is starting to crumble, thanks to her recent affair with a local tennis player and the troubles of her husband Vic’s ad agency. Donna and her young son Tad are attacked by the rabid canine, and have to take shelter inside Donna’s broken-down Ford Pinto. With the sun’s heat becoming unbearable, Cujo’s attacks becoming fiercer, and cellphones not having yet been invented, Donna and Tad are in big trouble. It was adapted for the screen in 1983 by director Lewis Teague (Alligator), and starred Dee Wallace (The Howling); it was a box-office success, making $21.2 million USD on a 4 million budget. Reviews, however, were mixed, as many didn’t find Cujo himself (who was played by real dogs, an animatronic, and a stuntman in a dog costume) very frightening.
As King was in the throes of substance abuse at times, he has no memory of having written Cujo. However, he enjoys the book, and wrote a short sequel to it, which was published in his 2024 short fiction collection You Like It Darker. In the novella, Rattlesnakes, the widowed Vic Trenton relocates to Florida and has a ghostly encounter.
Cujo is in development at Netflix; no creative team or release date has yet been announced.
via Collider