Firestarter
Short description
Charlie McGee looks like an ordinary eight-year-old, but her parents once took part in a secret government experiment, and the drug they were given has left their daughter with the power to set things alight with her mind. She cannot always control it. When the agency behind the experiment decides it wants her back, Andy takes his daughter on the run, determined to protect her from people who see her ability as a weapon rather than a gift.
The film was directed by Mark L. Lester, whose earlier credits include Steel Arena, Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, Stunts, Roller Boogie and Class of 1984, and who went on to make Commando, Armed and Dangerous, Class of 1999 and Showdown in Little Tokyo. Stanley Mann wrote the screenplay, and Dino De Laurentiis and Frank Capra, Jr. produced. Drew Barrymore plays Charlie, with David Keith as her father, Heather Locklear as her mother, and Martin Sheen, George C. Scott and Freddie Jones in supporting roles.
Released in May 1984, the film had a budget of fifteen million dollars and took in about seventeen million worldwide. On IMDb it holds 6.1 out of ten from roughly forty thousand votes, while on TMDB the average is 6.3 from a much smaller number of voters. A critics' rating of five out of ten across thirty-five reviews places it close to the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film is based on Stephen King's novel "Firestarter" (1980).
- Jennifer Connelly was considered for the role of Charlie McGee.
- In the last half hour of the film, George C. Scott is shown on screen with a patch over his left eye. The patch was necessary due to an infection caused by wearing a contact lens.
- Bert Lancaster had to leave the film's cast after heart surgery, and was replaced by Martin Sheen.
- The idea that Art Carney's character would wear a hearing aid was suggested by the actor himself, who was actually deaf. Director Mark L. Lester really liked the idea.
- Some scenes with Drew Barrymore were filmed on a soundstage (for example, the barn fire). A stunt double was used in some scenes.
- At that time, computer technology was not yet sufficiently developed, so there was no computer graphics, and all special effects were created directly on the set. Real fire, remotely controlled prosthetics, wires, gas pipes and stuntmen were used.
- David Keat told that in the scene in the barn, when his character dies and Drew Barrymore’s heroine cries, she couldn’t cry no matter what. Barrymore asked him to slap her right before the camera started rolling so she would cry. Keat slapped her.
- Initially, John Carpenter was chosen as the director, but due to the box office failure of his film "The Thing", he was replaced by Mark L. Lester.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
