Armstrong was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress, but it was rescinded due to controversy over her young age.

Meanwhile, in a secret facility, Captain Jane Hollister, leader of the Department of Scientific Intelligence (DSI), is monitoring thermal signatures caused by Charlie's outbursts.

She visits Doctor Joseph Wanless, creator of Lot-6 and the resulting superhumans, who implores Hollister to terminate Charlie before her powers become uncontrollable.

Irv sits up all night watching a news report of the incident at the McGee home, which is being framed as murder by Andy.

Rainbird appears in the bushes, kills the policemen, and then shoots Irv in the knee before black trucks roll in to pick up Charlie and Andy.

Charlie spends time honing her fire powers before stealing a bike and clothes to follow her father's telepathic message to her from his cell at DSI.

The now-rogue Charlie sets both on fire, mentally unlocks all the security doors, and walks through the facility killing all of the DSI agents.

On April 27, 2017, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions announced a remake of Firestarter (1984), with Akiva Goldsman set to direct and produce alongside Jason Blum.

[2] In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Family Camp, and was projected to gross $5–7 million from 3,412 theaters in its opening weekend.

The website's consensus reads: "There was plenty of room to improve on the original, but Firestarter trips over that low bar and tumbles toward the bottom of the long list of Stephen King adaptations.

[1] On Common Sense Media, Jeffrey Anderson gave it a 1/5 rating, stating, "Thoroughly bland and uninspired, this cheap-looking adaptation of Stephen King's 1980 novel just goes through the motions, failing to deliver any thrills or scares and feeling utterly pointless.

"[28] Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "while it has a few genuine scares... it never achieves the deliriously freaky heights one expects from a film version of one of King's cheesier novels.

"[29] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3/4 stars, calling it "A combustible supernatural thriller that embraces its borderline campy qualities and works well enough as 21st century drive-in escapist fare.

"[30] In May 2022, Thomas stated that there are ongoing discussions to possibly expand the film into a franchise, acknowledging that this may be in the form of sequel, prequel, or spin-off media.