Andy & Barbara Muschietti want to take on Pet Sematary after It movies

August 7th 2017, 12:50pm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

So far, the trailers and images for the upcoming Stephen King adaptation – IT – have met everyone’s expectations thanks to a terrifying Bill Skarsgard as the clown and an overall haunting vibe. Director Andres Muschietti and his producing partner and sister, Barbara Muschietti, are also hard at work on the follow-up centering on the adult versions of the kids in the film, but what’s next for them? According to Barbara, hopefully, the project is another King story – particularly PET SEMATARY.

While speaking with the Toronto Sun, Muschietti talked about when they're finished with both parts of IT they would like to tackle the King classic, which already received the film treatment back in 1989:

We’re huge fans of Pet Sematary. If we can get our hands on that and do the Pet Sematary we want to do, that will be something. One day, maybe.

A remake of the horror story has been in discussion for some time, with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo being attached to direct back in 2013. Nothing ever came of the remake, but if IT can succeed and rake in the big numbers then perhaps the Muschiettis will get a shot at the job. But right now IT is taking over the duo's life, and as for the creepy clown, Pennywise, Barbara can say this version will certainly be more "dangerous" than Tim Curry's take in the miniseries:

Andy and I read the book and we didn’t see the TV version with Tim Curry until much, much later. So for us, our imagining of Pennywise was different. It wasn’t the Tim Curry version, which was fantastic and super scary. But to us, Pennywise was a different character. I think our interpretation presents a vaster creature. It’s not, "OK, here’s this scary clown." The way we’re doing it is much more dangerous. Also, we get a hint of what Pennywise’s Achilles’ heel is. I don’t like supervillains, or superheroes that are completely infallible because that’s very boring. You want to feel that there’s something to crack. Also it’s good to understand how Pennywise happens. There will be more of that in the sequel.

Based on what we have seen of IT I believe we are in for a stellar horror movie experience. Few horror movies have this level of fanfare attached to them, and if the movie can deliver the goods I think we can expect a smash hit. If this is the result the Muschiettis would have their pick of the litter, and taking on another King story would certainly be on the table. If there's anything scarier than clowns, it's zombie cats.

IT arrives September 8.