Pet Sematary to close SXSW festival, new trailer tomorrow

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Today the South by Southwest Conference and Festivals have announced the second tier of its Film Festival program, including the Midnighters, Festival Favorites, Shorts, Episodic Pilot Competition, Virtual Cinema, Music Video and Title Design entries, plus late-addition Features and the Closing Night Film. Included in the press release for the event was word that SXSW will close the 26th edition of its annual celebration with a world premiere screening of directors Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer's PET SEMATARY. Furthermore, it's also been reported that tomorrow a new trailer for Stephen King's rebooted tale of terror is set to rise from the grave and shamble onto the web.

Starring Jason Clarke (ZERO DARK THIRTY, EVEREST), Amy Seimetz (UPSTREAM COLOR, SUN DON'T SHINE), Jeté Laurence (THE AMERICANS, THE SNOWMAN), Hugo & Lucas Lavoie and John Lithgow (INTERSTELLAR, CLIFFHANGER), PET SEMATARY is based on the seminal horror novel by Stephen King, and follows Dr. Louis Creed (Jason Clarke), who, after relocating with his wife Rachel (Amy Seimetz) and their two young children from Boston to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near the family’s new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his unusual neighbor, Jud Crandall (John Lithgow), setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences.

Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer will direct from a screenplay penned by Jeff Buhler. Meanwhile, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Steven Schneider, and Mark Vahradian will produce, with Mark Moran executive producing.

This year's SXSW festival looks to be armed to the teeth with cinematic offerings for those in attendance. According to today's deluge of info, the event will host 131 Feature Films including 101 World Premieres, 9 North American Premieres, 3 US Premieres, and 64 films from first-time filmmakers,101 Short Films (including music videos), 5 Episodic Premieres, 12 Episodic Pilots, 25 Virtual Cinema Projects, and 30 Title Design entries.

“Programming the SXSW Midnighters section is always a favorite part of my job, and this year was no exception,” said Jarod Neece, SXSW Senior Film Programmer. “We get to peek into the collective consciousness of the world of genre filmmakers working today. This year’s selections are a mix of horror, thriller, sci-fi and fantasy with a good dose of feral children, haunted houses, extraterrestrial creatures and the undead to creep out SXSW audiences late into the night. Genre films can be found throughout the entire SXSW program, from Jordan Peele’s Us on Opening Night to our Closing Night Film, Pet Sematary!”

This year's SXSW festival will take place in Austin, Texas and will run from March 8-17, 2019. Be sure to check back tomorrow for when the new trailer for PET SEMATARY definitively proves that sometimes dead is better.