Darren Aronofsky in talks to direct the Cujo remake

There have been rumblings of a remake of the classic Stephen King adaptation Cujo for a long time – in fact, one was officially announced way back in 2013. In 2015, we heard that the remake had taken an unexpected turn, reimagining the name Cujo as an acronym that stood for Canine Unit Joint Operations. That project seemed to be scrapped when King got the rights to the story back in 2017… But last week, we learned that the Cujo remake has found a new home: the Netflix streaming service. And now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider reports that a director might be close to signing on to the project, as Darren Aronofsky is said to be in negotiations to take the helm.

Aronofsky’s previous directorial efforts include Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, Noah, mother!, and The Whale.

As we heard last week, Netflix secured a deal to make a new feature film based on King’s 1981 novel Cujo. Roy Lee, who has previously produced the King adaptations Salem’s Lot (2024), The Stand (2020 – 2021), Doctor Sleep (2019), It (2017), and It Chapter Two (2019), will be producing the film. The search is on for a writer. (And it won’t be Kevin Smith, who already turned down the chance to write a Cujo remake years ago.)

Cujo is the story of a large, playful St. Bernard dog that is transformed into a hideous killing machine after being infected by rabies. Donna Trenton’s car is on the fritz, and she and her son take her ailing automobile to their mechanic. Upon their arrival, the car stalls and refuses to restart. The mechanic fails to appear so Donna searches for him. The transformed, maniacal Cujo reveals himself; he is highly agitated and very aggressive. Donna hardly recognizes this filthy, monstrous creature foaming at the mouth. Suddenly Cujo charges Donna, who barely makes it back into the car for protection. Trapped with her son and the windows rolled up, the sweltering heat begins to take its toll. Cujo powerful state of insanity and violence await.

Cujo was previously turned into a film back in 1983, with Lewis Teague directing from a screenplay by Don Carlos Dunaway and Barbara Turner (a.k.a. Lauren Currier). That one stars Dee Wallace as Donna Trenton and Danny Pintauro as her son Tad, with Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Christopher Stone, Ed Lauter, Kaiulani Lee, Billy Jacoby, Mills Watson, Jerry Hardin, Sandy Ward, and Arthur Rosenberg in supporting roles. King himself is a fan of that adaptation, saying that it’s “really great” and that Dee Wallace should have won an Oscar for her performance.

Now, we’ll have to wait and see: will Aronofsky remain attached to Cujo all the way into production? He has a history of stepping away from high profile projects (like Batman: Year One, Watchmen, the RoboCop remake, and The Wolverine) – but it would be interesting to see his take on Stephen King’s rabid dog story.

Would you like to see a Cujo remake that’s directed by Darren Aronofsky? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.

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