In 1983, two masters of horror converged to make a classic. John Carpenter, the director of Halloween (1978), added a tale from fellow horror master Stephen King to his impressive resume with Christine (1983). It is a film with the simplest of premises but introduces its insidious intentions right from the start. Carpenter establishes an eerie tone that carries throughout the film and jumps out at the audience with brute force when the occasion calls for it. He is a master at building suspense and made a simple story of a car into a nail-biting ride, earning its cult status as one of the greatest films of the killer car subgenre and one of the most memorable from the ’80s.

It was announced that King’s classic story is revving up for a Blumhouse remake. With the advancements in filming today compared to the ’80s, King’s novel will be seen again with more modern filmmaking techniques that can resurrect the famous Plymouth in all its glory. As of December 2021, the potential script was in King’s hands. But in February, Stephen King began to feel doubtful about actually making it. At the moment, he seems to be putting more energy into the new production of Salem’s Lot.

Here is everything else we know about the remake.

Updated November 2022 by Liz Young: If you’re looking for more information about the Christine remake, you’ll be happy to know that we’ve added an update to this article.

Christine: The Plot

     Columbia Pictures

Christine follows a bullied, shy, and unpopular teen named Arnie Cunningham in both the novel and the film. While at a junkyard, Arnie purchases a beat-up 1958 Plymouth Fury. When he starts fixing the car by himself, changes soon become apparent due to its influence. His acne clears up, he loses the need for his glasses, and his quiet and kind personality is replaced by one more angry and cynical, resembling a cocky ’50s greaser. This change quickly starts to negatively affect his social life, all thanks to an old car. It becomes apparent that the vehicle has a sinister mind of its own, bent on mayhem, destruction, and even murder.

The original film stuck closely to the book and brought King’s vision to life. Thanks to the author’s storytelling and Carpenter’s cinema expertise, it did modestly well at the box office.

Christine: The Cast & Crew

So far, the creator of the Hannibal TV series Bryan Fuller is slated to direct the film, with Jason Blum serving as executive producer alongside Vincenzo Natali and Steven Hoban. As the film is also in collaboration with Sony Pictures, Peter Kang will oversee the project. It’s unclear if King will play a part in the film’s production. At the very least, he will likely be included in a consulting role.

The current progress of the film is not yet known, but while speaking with Collider, Jason Blum revealed that the script for Fuller’s film had been finished.

Fuller is committed to keeping the new film rooted in the ’80s, the same period as the novel and the previous movie. He may stick closely to the source material as Carpenter did, but fans shouldn’t expect him to follow it beat for beat. As with many book-to-screen adaptations, some things must be changed to fit time constraints. But Fuller is determined to keep the movie cemented in what made the book a bestseller.

“We actually recently got a script, which was terrific. We’re going to try and make it into a movie. That’s my plan.”

This won’t be Fuller’s first foray with a King classic. He initially tried his hand at remaking Carrie back in 2002, but critics and fans showered the film with unfavorable reviews. That being said, the director has done much in the two decades since then. Fans were delightfully surprised by his graphic and gory series following the infamous Hannibal Lecter, played by Mads Mikkelson. Hence, fans know he can execute brutal horror and a mind-bending story.

Outside of horror, he’s written for shows such as Pushing Daisies and the popular sci-fi series Star Trek: Discovery, for which he served as showrunner for a time before leaving the position. With his impressive resume, there is no doubt that Fuller is an excellent choice to remake Christine. He may not have hit the nail on the head back in 2002, but his experience since then has earned him a second chance at a classic King thriller.

Regarding the cast of Christine, no one has been announced yet. It could be that the producers have yet to begin casting, but there’s also the chance that an ensemble is being kept secret. Plenty of films these days stay quiet about their production. Given Christine’s popularity as a classic and a King story, this could be the case.

Release Date

There is still no set release date for the movie or the start of filming.

Everything Else We Know

There has been concern that the most recent installment of the Halloween franchise, Halloween Ends, could impact the remake. The new film actually has a similar plot to the original story behind Christine. ScreenRant discusses the similarities between the two and why it could mean there needs to be some space between the two projects.

The plot of Halloween Ends includes Cory (Rohan Campbell) working on a motorcycle in a scrapyard, which encourages the teen to change his personality and go after people that have bullied him while taking on a new moniker after a near-death experience. While the motorcycle doesn’t kill anyone as the car does in King’s tale, its owner starts acting the same way Christine does, hurting people he believes have slighted someone he cares about.

The article goes on to discuss how the two films have a similar tone as well, arguing that a Christine remake could feel like déjà vu to moviegoers. Though, because it wasn’t a vehicle killing people in Halloween Ends, the filmmakers could really play up that aspect to distract from any similarities audiences pick up on.

Despite this, viewers are still incredibly excited about the remake. So much so that an artist has made their own version of the iconic car. Custom car manufacturer SpeedKore Performance and automotive artist Abimelec Arellano teamed up to show what Christine could look like after the events of the film. The images show an updated, modern car that could work well in the remake and brings new life to the vehicle.

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Hopefully, the car mock-up can tide fans over until more news on Christine is released.

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