Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

A Pet Sematary prequel movie is coming to Paramount Plus and here is everything known, from the cast and story to the release date.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines news has started rolling in about the upcoming Stephen King prequel movie, especially since it'll expand the story of one of the author's self-attested most terrifying tales. Pet Sematary was one of King's early horror novels, published in 1983 about a demonic graveyard where people used to bury their pets, only to have them return from the dead, changed. The book was also one of King's darkest stories, with a family watching their young toddler son die in a terrible accident only to bury him in the Pet Sematary and see him return as a dangerous killing machine. The book ended up adapted into a movie in 1989, which received a sequel in 1992. A reboot arrived in 2019 and now Pet Sematary: Bloodlines offers a prequel.

The movie went into development in 2021 and will be a Paramount Plus exclusive film, following in the footsteps of another Stephen King movie, with the Firestarter remake, which was a movie released on Peacock simultaneously with a theatrical release. However, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines won't be coming to theaters and will be a streaming exclusive. The movie is not based on any King story, as he never wrote a prequel to his novel, but it will bring back a character from King's Pet Sematary and the two main movies adapting it, providing some much-needed lore for a narrative that always felt as though it was scratching the surface of something much, much deeper. There's clearly more to Pet Sematary, and the prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines is set to exhume Ludlow's twisted history and lay it bare for audiences for the first time.

The biggest Pet Sematary: Bloodlines news is that the studio has released several first-look images of the Pet Sematary prequel to see what to expect when the movie hits Paramount Plus. The first look included a debut of the Pet Sematary: Bloodlines poster and title logo, which has a blood-red background with the different crosses sticking out of the ground at the Pet Sematary as the main image.

There were also a few shots from the Pet Sematary prequel in the first-look promotion from Paramount, including a dog walking down the side of a road in front of a sign that read "Ludlow." There were also shots of the characters, including one that saw Jud Crandall looking into a mirror and seeing what appears to be a ghostly figure behind him.

The Pet Sematary: Bloodlines release date will make it a perfect Halloween movie for 2023. The Pet Sematary prequel will arrive on Paramount Plus for streaming on October 6, 2023. It will not get a theatrical release and is a streaming exclusive, an addition to Paramount Plus's already admirable library of Horror content.

While the Pet Sematary: Bloodlines cast is set, there is only one actor who has a character name, and that is Jackson White as Jud Crandall. Those familiar with the Stephen King novel likely remember Jud as the neighbor in Pet Sematary. In the 1989 movie, Munsters' star Fred Gwynne played Jud and in the remake, John Lithgow (Third Rock From the Sun) took on the role. A lesser-known actor takes on the role as Jud becomes the main star of the Pet Sematary: Bloodlines cast. This is Jackson White's first starring role in a major studio movie. He did have a supporting role in Michael Bay's Ambulance and in the HBO miniseries Mrs. Fletcher.

There are some established talents in the Pet Sematary: Bloodlines cast, but it is not known what their roles will be. Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, Jackie Brown) stars in the movie and one of the first-look images includes a shot of her aiming a rifle at somebody. Another big name in the cast is Samantha Mathis. Fans will know Mathis as Sara Hammon in the Showtime series Billions. However, she also has Stephen King experience. She starred as Susan Norton in the 2004 remake of Salem's Lot. David Duchovny also brings a familiar face to the lineup, as most fans will remember him as Agent Fox Mulder from The X-Files.

Another bigger name is Henry Thomas, one of the members of the Pet Sematary prequel cast who's no stranger to Stephen King adaptations. He starred as Jack Torrance in Doctor Sleep, the sequel to The Shining. Fans might also remember him from The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix. He also is best known for his roles as a child, where he played Elliot in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. Rounding out the cast in unknown roles are Jack Mulhern, Natalie Alyn Lind (Big Sky), Forrest Goodluck (How to Blow Up a Pipeline), and Isabella Star LeBlanc.

There is really no Pet Sematary: Bloodlines news regarding the storyline, and for good reason — it's one of the key selling-points of the Stephen King prequel, and likely a tantalizing and twist-filled rollercoaster. All that is known is that the movie will focus on Jud Crandell, the neighbor from the original novel/movie who died when attacked by Louis Creed's resurrected child. The Pet Sematary: Bloodlines plot reads that a young Jud Crandall wants to escape his hometown, but realizes there is something dark and malevolent buried in a local cemetery. Jud has to unite with his childhood friends to face the ancient evil that has haunted the town of Ludlow since its start.

Taking a look at the cast and the images released for the season, it is almost assured that some of the biggest-name actors will not be part of Jud and his friends' group. Pam Grier looks like she might be playing a law enforcement official, although that is still unknown. David Duchovney and Henry Thomas are also likely too old to be part of that group and might be part of the town's older citizens. The notation that there is an "ancient evil" makes it sound like there will be a lot more here than just the story of a heartbroken father burying his child and hoping for a miracle. It sounds like this might go into why the Pet Sematary does bring back the dead.

As noted, Stephen King never wrote a prequel or sequel to Pet Sematary. King wrote this book during a tough part of his life and several of his books at the time were dark. Pet Sematary saw the death of a young child and the destruction of his family in his wake. Cujo saw a young child die. However, the new movie seems to be focusing less on that dark storyline, and more on a story learning about the history of the town and the infamous cemetery, possibly set up a little closer to It than to the original Pet Sematary movie.

There is no Pet Sematary: Bloodlines trailer yet, but with the movie coming in October, expect the first trailer to arrive sometime near the end of August to early September.