Pennywise’s variety of creepy clownery is coming back to screens with the new adaptation of Stephen King’s IT this September 8th. And when the planned two film series is finished, director Andy Muschietti, along with his sister and creative partner Barbara, know exactly which King story they want to tackle next.
“We’re huge fans of Pet Sematary,” Muschietti told the Toronto Sun during a recent set visit. “If we can get our hands on that and do the Pet Sematary we want to do, that will be something. One day, maybe.”
Released in 1983, Pet Sematary is one of King’s darkest novels, so bleak that he was reluctant to even publish it. It tells the story of a warm family in Maine torn apart after the discovery of a nearby pet cemetery with the power to resurrect the dead. It doesn’t go well for them. You know how these things tend to turn out.
There have been rumors floating around about a prospective remake of the 1989 film adaptation of Pet Sematary for years, with news coming as recently as 2015, when director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Days Later) and screenwriter Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train) were attached. There’s been little word since, however, suggesting that particular iteration might be stalled indefinitely. If it doesn’t get off the ground, the Muschiettis may have the pedigree to pull the film off. The duo are bonafied King fanatics, and already own the rights to another King story, the sci-fi horror short “The Jaunt,” about a method of teleportation that has some, let’s just say unsettling side effects.
We know just the place for the Muschiettis to get working, too. In a confluence out of a horror novel, the real-world house that inspired Pet Sematary is on the market. As in the book, this house is situated near a big, busy road that has a nasty reputation for killing pets. There’s a real-life pet cemetery in the back, too, though this one doesn’t have quite the same penchant for cursed resurrections. (We hope.)
The real thing would make a great set, if a production company or the Muschiettis themselves wanted to snag it. They could even live in it, too, though I dunno why you’d want to live in a house that traumatized King enough to write something like Pet Sematary. Maybe you’re just really into contemplating the basic tragedy of mortality over breakfast. I’m not here to judge.
Clarification: An earlier version of this article misstated the relationship between the Muschiettis. They’re siblings.