John Carpenter’s 1983 horror film “Christine,” based on the then-new novel by Stephen King, was about a 1958 Plymouth Fury that seemed to have a consciousness of its own. The Fury was not a benevolent being, however. Indeed, it seemed to hate people and took lives whenever possible, including when it was first rolling off the Plymouth assembly line. After remaining in disrepair for decades, Christine was rescued by a modern teen named Arnie (Keith Gordon), a hopeless nerd with no social skills. When Arnie fixes Christine, the car kind of falls in love with him, and begins imbuing him with eerie strength. He begins dressing like a 1950s greaser, while Christine begins driving herself around, running down Arnie’s rivals and potential girlfriends. In a dark way, “Christine” is about how the often-romanticized 1950s weren’t finished with America.
Carpenter brought a great deal of skill and craftsmanship to “Christine,” and the film is scary and effective. It remains one of the more notable films in the early wave of Stephen King adaptations that would soon flood the marketplace.
“Christine” was Carpenter’s seventh major feature film as a director, but it was only his second working under the auspices of a major studio. His films “Dark Star,” “Assault on Precinct 13,” “Halloween,” “The Fog,” and “Escape from New York” were all made independently. It wouldn’t be until “The Thing” in 1982 that Carpenter would be hired for a major studio project.
After “The Thing,” however, Carpenter experienced a strange whirlwind of work that he wasn’t terribly fond of. Carpenter spoke to Total Film (via GamesRadar+) in 2023 about his film career and he only recalled “Christine” as coming after a painful firing, adding that it was a rush job he didn’t care about. For however good “Christine” might have been, Carpenter has no sentimental thoughts about it.
John Carpenter ran out of f***s to give long ago
It should be noted that Carpenter has never been a sentimental filmmaker. He doesn’t seem to think of himself as an artist, happy to make fun movies for a paycheck. Indeed, in a 2017 interview with The Guardian, Carpenter said he loves when other people remake his movies, as he will get a paycheck without having to do any work. In the Total Film interview, Carpenter was asked about the potential “Christine” remake that’s being developed by Bryan Fuller. Carpenter wasn’t precious or protective about “Christine,” feeling he was, back in 1983, just a grunt for hire. He did it for the money. As he put it:
“I needed a job, frankly. […] ‘The Thing’ was my very first studio film. I was just diving in the pool here, and all of a sudden, wham. And getting fired off a movie is not the most pleasant thing.”
Carpenter is referring to a brief time in 1982 when he had been hired to direct “Firestarter,” another Stephen King adaptation, for Universal. Carpenter was still making “The Thing” for Universal when he started planning out “Firestarter,” and he even hired a screenwriter, Bill Phillips, to pen a draft that was far different from King’s original story. Sadly, when “The Thing” hit theaters, it was met with a hugely negative reaction from both audiences and critics. It bombed at the box office, and Universal no longer wanted anything to do with Carpenter. The studio fired him unceremoniously, and the director was suddenly hurting for work.
Luckily, another King adaptation floated into his field of vision, and “Christine” was hastily put onto his docket. Carpenter didn’t care about the movie. He just wanted to keep working.
When asked about Fuller’s new version, Carpenter waved his hand. “Well, good luck to him,” the director said. “It will probably be better.”
