Next April, we'll be treated to Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch's new adaptation of Stephen King's Pet Sematary. I'm really diggin' the look and feel of the film so far, especially the fact that the filmmaking duo are closely following the book with their film. One aspect being the Creed's kitty, Church, played by a Maine Coon, the same breed from the book.
Speaking of Church, the film's cat trainer spoke with the Prince George Citizen about the hardships of training an undead kitty.
Melissa Millett told the site that five felines were trained to portray Church in the film and that they were trained for two months for ten weeks of filming, but one of them backed out after getting spooked on set.
"Cats don't aim to please," said Millett, "so the film crew made sure they were having fun on the job, providing them with an outdoor "catio" where they could play in between takes."
"The cats shared five trailers during the shoot to accommodate their human team and training needs," said Millett. "One sourpuss had to be separated in its own RV because it didn't get along with the other animal actors."
Despite the one cat's issues, she said that all of the feline actors worked well with their human co-stars. The film’s animal co-ordinator adopted two of them, and two went to friends. Of course, Millett ended up with the sourpuss, which she named Tonic.
“I think there’s going to be a lot more for these kitties, and they work as a team, so this will continue to be a great team,” she said. “I don’t know how Tonic feels about now being a regular cat. He says, ‘Come on! Excuse me!‘”
In the new adaptation from Jeff Buhler, “Based on the seminal horror novel by Stephen King, Pet Sematary follows Dr. Louis Creed, who, after relocating with his wife Rachel and their two young children from Boston to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near the family’s new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his unusual neighbor, Jud Crandall, setting off a perilous chain reaction that unleashes an unfathomable evil with horrific consequences.”
Paramount will release the film on April 5th, 2019.