Firestarter (film)

Firestarter
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mark L. Lester
Produced by	Frank Capra, Jr. Martha Schumacher
Screenplay by	Stanley Mann
Based on	Firestarter by Stephen King
Starring	David Keith Drew Barrymore Freddie Jones Heather Locklear Martin Sheen George C. Scott Art Carney Louise Fletcher
Music by	Tangerine Dream
Cinematography	Giuseppe Ruzzolini
Edited by	David Rawlins Ronald Sanders
Production company	Dino de Laurentiis Company
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	May 11, 1984 (1984-05-11)
Running time	114 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$15 million
Box office	$17.1 million

Firestarter is a 1984 American science fiction horror film based on Stephen King's 1980 novel Firestarter. The plot concerns a young girl who develops pyrokinesis and the secret government agency known as The Shop which seeks to control her. The film was directed by Mark L. Lester, and stars David Keith, Drew Barrymore, Martin Sheen and George C. Scott. The film was shot in and around Wilmington, Chimney Rock, and Lake Lure, North Carolina.

A miniseries follow-up to the film, entitled Rekindled, was released in 2002 on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Andy McGee (David Keith) met his future wife, Vicky Tomlinson (Heather Locklear), in college while they were earning money by participating in an experiment in which they were given a dose of a low-grade hallucinogen called LOT-6. The experiment grants them telepathic abilities; Vicky has the ability to read minds, and Andy can take over minds and make others do and believe what he wants, but the effort gives him nosebleeds (the novel revealing them to be "pinprick" hemorrhages). Andy and Vicky went on to get married, and they now have a nine-year-old daughter named Charlene "Charlie" McGee (Drew Barrymore), who has pyrokinetic abilities (can start fires with the mind). Charlie can also see the near future.