10 Stephen King Movie Adaptations That Stephen King Hated
2. Firestarter
Firestarter tells the story of a young girl with the power to start fires with her mind. She and her father go on the run from a secret government unit to survive, leading to a rather fiery showdown. It’s a cracking read, and the rights to make a film were quickly snapped up.
John Carpenter was supposed to helm it, but he was fired after the failure of The Thing; ironically, he ended up directing Christine instead. The resulting Firestarter film isn’t too bad, with great performances by Drew Barrymore and George C Scott, plus a catchy synth score by Tangerine Dream.
King wouldn’t agree with that assessment, and after seeing a rough cut declared it “One of the worst of the bunch” out of the adaptations he'd seen, and dubbed it “flavourless.” He and director Mark Lester later traded barbs over these comments, though King told Cinefantastique he feels Firestarter’s producer is the one to blame for its failings.