POLTERGEIST Remake Moves Forward at MGM and FOX 2000

MGM has announced that they've partnered up with Fox 2000 Pictures to bring us a new Poltergeist film. They've been trying to get this remake off the ground and into production for years, but it's finally going to happen.

I'm a little apprehensive about the remake because the original is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. But I'm also kind of comforted by the fact that Sam Raimi is producing it, and Monster House director Gil Kenan is directing. I loved Monster House, and Raimi did a great job guiding the remake of Evil Dead in the right direction. If we can get an awesome Evil Dead remake, then I'm sure they can give us a solid Poltergeist remake. We'll just have to wait to see.

The movie will start shooting this fall, and here's the first official plot summary:

In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of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.

Here's the full press release:

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 20, 2013) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM), a division of MGM Holdings Inc., has partnered with Fox 2000 Pictures, a division of Twentieth Century Fox, to co-finance and distribute the film “Poltergeist,” it was announced today by MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Barber and Twentieth Century Fox Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Gianopulos. 

Gil Kenan (“Monster House”) is set to direct from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, David Lindsay-Abaire (whose recent credits include “Oz: The Great and Powerful”). The film is being produced by Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead”) and Rob Tapert (“The Posession”) via Ghost House Pictures, along with Roy Lee (“The Strangers”). Nathan Kahane (“The Grudge”) will serve as executive producer.

“Poltergeist” will be marketed and distributed worldwide by Twentieth Century Fox, with select international territories as well as international television distribution being handled by MGM. Fox will also handle home entertainment and domestic television. MGM and Twentieth Century Fox continue their longtime partnership as Fox also distributes MGM’s home entertainment product.

In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of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.

“Poltergeist” is scheduled to begin production this Fall.

MGM is currently in production with Paramount on the original film “Hercules,” directed by Brett Ratner and starring Dwayne Johnson due for release July 25, 2014 as well as the sequel to the 2010 cult hit “Hot Tub Time Machine.” The studio has several upcoming films slated for release including “Carrie” with Sony’s Screen Gems due October 18, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second film in “The Hobbit” Trilogy with New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. set for December 13 and “RoboCop” with Columbia Pictures scheduled for February 7, 2014.