Back in 2011, we started to hear rumblings of a remake of the classic 1982 horror film ‘Poltergeist’. At the time, producer Roy Lee announced his intentions of moving forward with the project and, a few months later, ‘Evil Dead’ team Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert signed on to produce as well. Then, earlier this summer, with Gil Kenan directing from a script by David Lindsay-Abaire, the film began it’s casting process by attaching Rosemarie DeWitt and Sam Rockwell to star. Now, the casting process is moving right along as a few more roles have just been filled.
According to the most recent reports, Nicholas Braun, Kyle Catlett, and Jared Harris have all joined the cast of the new ‘Poltergeist’. Young Catlett is best known as Joey Matthews in the Fox show ‘The Following’. He’ll be playing the middle child of DeWitt and Rockwell’s family, whose youngest daughter is the one abducted by the surly specters. Braun, who has appeared in films such as Kevin Smith’s ‘Red State’ and ‘The Perks of Being A Wallflower’, is currently in negotiations to play a grad student from a local university who studies under a parapsychologist that brings him along to document the investigation of the supernatural events surrounding the Bowen family.
As for Harris, he’s being lined up for a leading role. Known for his work in ‘Mad Men’, ‘Fringe’, ‘Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows’, ‘Lincoln’, and ‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’, the award-winning actor will play Carrigan, “a larger than life TV personality who left the world of academia behind to become the star host of basic cable TV show ‘Haunted House Cleaners’.” Carrigan also happens to be the ex of the parapsychologist that Braun is working with. Some reports indicate that Harris’ role could be the modern version of Zelda Rubinstein’s role in the original movie. It’s possible that rather than a quirky medium guiding the spiritual side of things for the family, a quirky reality show host could take her place. While not officially confirmed, it does make a bit of sense.
There’s currently no word on a release date for this upcoming remake, but more casting announcements are expected to be made soon. Until that happens, what do you think of the three new additions to the cast? Are you okay with the idea of Jared Harris’ character potentially filling the iconic role of Zelda Rubinstein from the original? Share your thoughts in the comments.
