Lilja’s Library is running an interview with David Kajganich, who has written the scripts of the anticipated remakes of Pet Sematary and IT, based on Stephen King novels. Previously, Kajganich wrote the original scripts for Town Creek and remake of the 1956 sci-fi film Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which was called The Invasion.

“I should say up front that Pet Sematary is my favorite King novel and adapting it was one of the best screenwriting experiences I’ve had, creatively speaking,” says Kajganich in the interview. “In its modern way, I think it is easily the equal of anything in the literary canon by Hawthorne or Poe, so I approached the book as a piece of literature as opposed to a horror concept to be pillaged. It was a pure pleasure.

“After I turned in my first draft, Paramount went through a top-down regime change and I was given a new executive who had creative ideas I just couldn’t stand behind. They wanted to appeal to younger audiences, so there was talk of making a teenaged Ellie the main character, and etc. It was really heartbreaking, but that’s how the process works sometimes. The studio was gracious enough to let me out of my contract and the project was dormant at the studio until very recently.

“The current news is that Paramount has restarted the process with a new producer and writer (Lorenzo Di Bonaventura and Matt Greenberg). I wish I could tell you something about their approach, or how it’s going, but I’m entirely out of the loop now.”

Catch the interview in its entirety here: David Kajganich

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