Stephen King’s Killer Canine Cujo Is Coming Back As Netflix Sets New Movie Adaptation

When it comes to Stephen King adaptations, Netflix's track record thus far has been pretty solid. From Mike Flanagan's precision tooled 2017 take on Gerald's Game and Zak Hilditch's underappreciated supernatural thriller 1922, through Vincenzo Natali's 2019 offering In The Tall Grass and John Lee Hancock's Donald Sutherland led Mr. Harrigan's Phone, the streamer has shown a solid knack for bringing the Master of Horror's works from page to screen. And now, per Deadline's reporting, the streaming giant has just set its fifth King joint — a new adaptation of the legendary writer's 1981 killer canine thriller Cujo.

Details on Netflix's plans for the King classic are scarce at this stage, with no writer, director, or St. Bernard shaped star set in place just yet. We do however know that Roy Lee, whose credits include Andy Muschietti's IT duology, Mike Flanagan's Doctor Sleep, The Stand TV series, and the recent Salem's Lot remake, is set to produce the upcoming movie, which Netflix has immediately prioritised finding a writer for now that a deal's been hashed out. For those unfamiliar with Cujo, either the book or Lewis Teague's cult 1983 movie (both of which you absolutely should make time for), the set-up is essentially a siege story — only in this particular story, the base under siege is a clapped out Ford Pinto housing mother-and-son duo Donna and Tad Trenton, and the sieging is being done by a rabid, bat-bitten, 200lb St. Bernard. It's a plot that's precisely as batshit insane as that sounds, and even more intense, especially when you factor in the sweltering Castle Rock heat and the prospect of an otherwise great movie dog breaking so bloodthirstily bad.

We'll bring you more updates on Cujo just as soon as we get them. In the meantime, we're off to rewatch all eight Beethoven movies (yes, all eight!) to remind us that Bernies are, by and large, majestic floofs and not murderous hellhounds.