Official ‘Pet Sematary’ Trailer Released

The first trailer for the film remake of Stephen King’s Pet Sematary has officially been released.

Based on the 1993 novel — as well as the 1989 film — the new Pet Sematary stars Jason Clarke (Winchester) as Louis Creed, a physician who moves his family out to the country from the big city where he discovers a pet cemetery that exists on ancient burial grounds.

In addition to Clarke, the film also stars Amy Seimetz (Alien: Covenant), and legendary actor John Lithgow as Jud Crandall, the role originated by Munsters star Fred Gwynne in the original film.

Pet Sematary is directed by Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer — who are most well-known for their work on the Scream TV series and the anthology horror film Holidays — from a screenplay by Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train, ABCs of Death 2) and David Kajganich (Blood Creek, Suspiria 2018).

Speaking to Collider about their approach to casting the film, Widmyer explained that they did not “want to get traditional movie stars.”

“We didn’t want them distracting from the story. You want people who sort of bleed into the story and feel very organic,” he went on to say. “And Jason Clarke has always been one of those guys that steals a lot of movie that he’s in. My parents might not know what his name is, but then they see a movie and go ‘I like this guy.’ He’s that sort of person. Same with Amy Seimetz.”

The stars of the film were also really excited about the source material they got to work with, with Clarke praising the novel by King.

“You read it and I think the struggle is, it’s one of the great what ifs. What if you could? What would you do? I think everyone can relate to it,” he said. “It’s just a normal dude, a dad who gets this dark secret and does something like Frankenstein’s Bride or the monster of Frankenstein. You create something and then it exists. I like Louis. I like that dark psychological journey.”

Seimetz revealed that she too shares a love for the novel, but that she was excited to take her character in a more reimagined direction.

“One of the things I talked about with the directors is that she can’t be crying all the time, from day one,” she said. “I know she has trauma from her past, but it can’t be constant. She can’t just be traumatized all the time. She had two children, so she got through the trauma of childbirth, [Louis] stayed with her, so at some point she had to have moved on and carried that pain with her.”

Pet Sematary creeps into theaters on April 5, 2019.