New Firestarter Movie Bombs at Box Office Worse Than 1984 Original
Firestarter, the newest adaption of Stephen King's novel of the same name, has bombed at the box office even worse than the 1984 version did. Firestarter released dually in theaters and on Peacock on May 13, 2022, and has not been well received by audiences. The film follows Andy McGee (Zac Efron) and Vicky Tomlinson-McGee (Sydney Lemmon) as they desperately attempt to protect their daughter, Charlie (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), from a government agency that wants to harness her pyrokinesis. Firestarter is directed by Keith Thomas, written by Scott Teams, and is a remake of the 1984 adaption of the same name.
The original Firestarter, which starred Drew Barrymore, David Keith, and Heather Locklear, didn't receive very positive reviews. King himself slammed the film as being one of the worst adaptions of his work and critics pointed out the oversimplification, lack of emotion, and uncompelling performances. Hence, the latest version of Firestarter really didn't have that high of a bar to reach and had plenty of room to improve upon the original. Unfortunately, Firestarter didn't improve upon the original in the eyes of audiences or critics.
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As reported by Variety, Firestarter bombed at the box office even worse than the 1984 original. After its opening weekend, it boasted a very meager $3.8 million. The film had a budget of about $12 million, so it still has a ways to go to break even. Meanwhile, the original 1984 made about $17 million overall at the box office. While Firestarter still has more time to improve on its box office performance, it isn't likely to improve by much. This is because the film is already available for streaming and those who have seen
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