by If remakes are hot in Hollywood right now, then remakes of Stephen King adaptations are infernos. Everyone seems to be digging into the famous horror author’s back catalog with new versions of It, pet cemetery, carrieand Firestarter, all of which have hit screens big and small in the last decade. [Remakes of Salem’s Lot and Cujo are on the way.]
Another addition to this ever-growing list is a new version of children of the corn, which doesn’t deviate too much from the 1984 original starring Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton. There’s lots of corn, some creepy kids, a few grisly deaths, and a charismatic leader not to be trusted. Digital Trends spoke to Kurt Wimmer, the director of the 2023 remake, about the enduring appeal of Stephen King and why he’s drawn to remaking classic genre films from the ’80s and ’90s.
Digital Trends: While researching your previous work, I discovered that you have been involved in many remakes. You wrote screenplays for the remakes of The Thomas Crown Affair, Total recallAnd point break. And now we have children of the corn, this is another remake. What appeals to you about reinterpreting something that already exists?
Kurt Wimmer: Absolutely nothing. [Laughs] I didn’t intend to be the “king of remakes”. I have made many films and some of them are remakes. It’s just that this is the world we live in now. It is very difficult to make an original film. There must be some type of identifiable intellectual property associated with it, such as a comic book, novel, or earlier film that can be remade.
So there is absolutely nothing that draws me to them. With point break And Total recall“I really loved those original films, so when I got the offer to write the remakes, I said to myself, ‘Well, listen, if anyone wants to screw it up, it might as well be me.’ They don’t always have those complete control over the movies you create.
I appreciate the honesty.
Secure. The Thomas Crown Affair was at the very beginning of my career. I couldn’t say no to that.
You said you were a fan of the original Total recall And point break. Also applies to the 1984 version children of the corn? And have you seen any of the nearly dozen sequels that have been made over the years?
To be honest I haven’t seen any of the sequels. I just went back to the original material [the short story by Stephen King]. There’s a reason so many sequels have been made, because the original material King created has such resonance.
As written, children of the corn has a very bare skeletal story with tremendous elasticity that allows it to be retold for different generations. The main theme of the story is the generational war. In the 1984 version, it focused on religious bigotry. Young people today who are 16 years old, if they go back and see this film, they won’t understand it at all, because that’s not important today.
In the year 2023, I think children will have a real problem with adults when it comes to how the world around them is managed. And we all know the earth goes to hell in a hand basket. And it’s certainly not the younger generation’s fault, but they’re the ones who have to deal with it and live with it. You don’t make the decisions. The adults make these really bad decisions. And so I can understand why children want to take matters into their own hands.
I think this is really something that deserves to be retold through a children of the corn make new. It is a template that can be repeated over and over again. I think that in 15 years there will be a different reason for friction between adults and children, and it should be redone to address that friction.
Are you a big Stephen King fan?
Oh yeah. I read a lot of his when I was younger. I love the classics like carrie And The glow, I really enjoyed these books. I haven’t kept up with him in recent years. I mean who can? He writes faster than you can read them.
What was the biggest challenge in shooting this film?
The hardest part was shooting in corn fields with a bunch of bloodied kids. I mean, every film is challenging, so I can’t say that this one was more challenging than the others. We were shooting in April 2020 in the early stages of COVID so at one point we were the only film on earth actively being produced. But I can’t say it was more challenging than any other film I’ve done.
children of Corn is playing in theaters now.
Editor’s Recommendations
