'Pet Sematary' Prequel Casts Samantha Mathis And Henry Thomas
The Pet Sematary prequel – which doesn't have a title yet, but will probably be called Pet Sematary: Resurrection or something like that – continues to put together an interesting cast. The legendary Pam Grier recently came on board the film, and now Samantha Mathis and Henry Thomas have signed on as well. They join the previously-announced Jackson White, Forrest Goodluck, Jack Mulhern, Natalie Alyn Lind, and Isabella Star LeBlanc. Lindsey Beer is directing the pic, which is headed straight to Paramount+.
We still don't really know a lot of details about the upcoming Pet Sematary prequel, but the cast continues to fill out. Deadline has the news that Samantha Mathis (Broken Arrow) and Henry Thomas (The Haunting of Hill House) are both joining the cast – although we don't know who they're playing. We don't know who any of the cast members are playing, actually – save for Jackson White, who is playing a younger version of Jud Crandall, the "helpful" neighbor played by John Lithgow in the 2019 Pet Sematary and Fred Gwynne in the 1989 adaptation.
Lindsey Beer is writing and directing the movie, based off a script by Jeff Buhler, who also wrote the 2019 movie. Speaking of which, while the 2019 adaptation was a hit, I feel like the opinion on the movie has soured since its release. Well, I'm here to say that I am still firmly a fan of the flick. I think there are a few issues here and there, but I thought the end result was damn good, and I even liked the big changes the movie made from the source material. And I like the idea of exploring the backstory built into the narrative, but that could be because Pet Sematary is my favorite Stephen King book.
Digging Into The Mythology
While many of the details surrounding the Pet Sematary prequel remain mysterious, there was talk of a prequel even before the 2019 film opened. "I think if there's anything here, there's a prequel," said producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. "I think if you look at the book, we didn't cover all that stuff that happens before the Creed family moves in. So, I think there's a movie there, and I think I'd be particularly interested in doing that, because, again, it's the source material and you are going toward something that also has a lot of crazy, creepy feelings about it."
And screenwriter Jeff Buhler added that the prequel would be "digging into the mythology of the town, these rituals that children present, the mythology of the Micmac, the Wendigo, the cemetery, the origins, Jud's life." Of course, Buhler's draft is no longer being used, so things might have changed. Then again, the fact that we know the film will feature a young Jud definitely lines up with what Buhler said.