We’ve known for awhile now that the ‘Poltergeist‘ remake was finally going to happen. Roy Lee has been talking about it since 2011 and Sam Raimi has been set to produce since 2013. With work on the film moving forward’ we’re happy to announce that over at Deadline we’ve found that the film now has a female lead and she just happens to be Rosemarie DeWitt.
Wait. Rosemarie DeWitt? Who? That was my first question. A quick bit of research made me realize I’ve seen her in a slew of things: ‘Rescue Me’, ‘Mad Men’, and most recently ‘The Watch‘. However from all of those only ‘The Watch’ was even remotely based in science fiction (and no where near horror). which is why the name didn’t pop out at me. Still from everything I’ve seen her she does a good job, and this will just be a completely different kind of role for her.
As the film gears up for production this Fall, we can expect a lot of casting details in the near future. While we don’t know who we will see on screen quite yet we do know who will be working behind the scenes! The film will be directed by Gil Kenan (‘City of Ember’, ‘Monster House’) and its updated screenplay will be written by David Lindsay-Abaire (‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’). It will be produced by Sam Raimi (‘Evil Dead‘) and Rob Tapert (‘The Possession’), Roy Lee (‘The Strangers’). Also Nathan Kahane (‘The Grudge’) is on board as the executive producer.
Now they have her listed as the female lead and you have to wonder if they mean the mother or the daughter whose been taken over by the Poltergeist. I’ll be curious to see whoever ends up playing the daughter pulls off the infamous “They’re heeeeeeeeeeere.” on the big screen and see if it has even half of the creep factor that it did in the original film.
Here’s the official synopsis for this reboot:
In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of evil.
While this is a movie ripe for a remake, I do have my concerns. Many of the ideas that would fall into updating this film to modern times can already be seen in the likes of ‘Paranormal Activity’,’ The Last Exorcism‘, ‘The Devil Inside‘, and a slew of low budget films with the same thought process in mind. I really hope they have something original to bring to the table in this retelling of such a classic horror film. I’d love for it to work, but I’m a little worried we’re going to get a rehash of every film I’ve just listed.
What do you think? Does the dream team in the background have a chance of pulling off a great remake or has Hollywood once again just run out of ideas for something new?
