POLTERGEIST Remake - Bumped up to May 22nd

[AndyDursin]

MGM just mining its back catalog now in an effort to make some money. Guess I'd do the same if I were them but as an audience member it's disheartening.

I suppose if this HAS to be remade, I'd rather see Raimi guiding it and not someone else, but the prospects of this as a modern horror film are nowheresville for me.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-v ... ist-317606

Sam Raimi is boarding MGM’s Poltergeist.

The filmmaker, who got his start with the Evil Dead horror movies, will produce the remake of the 1982 film -- which Steven Spielberg produced and co-scripted from his original story -- with Nathan Kahane, Roy Lee, and Robert Tapert.

Despite some reports, Raimi is not directing the remake but will help oversee the search for a helmer.

David Lindsay-Abaire, who worked on Disney's Oz: The Great and Powerful for Raimi, is working on the script, which focuses on a family whose house was built on a holy site and whosedaughter is taken by ghosts.

The movie is one of two horror remakes on which MGM is in active development, the other being Carrie. Julianne Moore is circling the role of the mother opposite Chloe Moretz.

Raimi is currently producing a remake of his Evil Dead. Fede Alvarez is directing the pic, which TriStar will release April 12, 2013.

[Eric W.]

[Paul MacLean]

Well...maybe he will bring Joe LoDuca onboard and he will write the one good score of that year.

[Monterey Jack]

At least it isn't Michael Bay calling the shots...

[Eric W.]

Well...maybe he will bring Joe LoDuca onboard and he will write the one good score of that year.

In the past, at least, I remember him being a fairly decent composer. How's he doing these days?

[AndyDursin]

There was a good chance James Horner would've scored this when Vadim Perelman was attached to direct. Not that I would've been too excited about the latter but it beats the blah horror score we'll eventually get.

[Monterey Jack]

There was a good chance James Horner would've scored this when Vadim Perelman was attached to direct. Not that I would've been too excited about the latter but it beats the blah horror score we'll eventually get.

I dunno...Raimi films tend to have pretty impressive scores by the likes of Danny Elfman, Joeseph LoDuca, Christopher Young, Basil Poledouris and Alan Silvestri. Even just in a producing credit, I imagine Raimi wouldn't settle for a typical Team Zimmer suck-fest.

[AndyDursin]

New director signed on...we'll see how long he lasts. lol.

I will say -- Kenan's background in animated/fantasy is a plus. The last thing you want to see in a POLTERGEIST remake is for it to become some PARANORMAL ACTIVITY rip-off.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/03/monster ... st-remake/

EXCLUSIVE: MGM has found a director for its remake of the horror classic Poltergeist. It’s Gil Kenan, who’s best known for helming Monster House and City Of Ember. He separately has set up an original, A Giant, with Lava Bear and The Henson Company. The remake of the 1982 Tobe Hooper-directed pic is being produced by Sam Raimi, Nathan Kahane, and Roy Lee. The original starred Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams as parents in a family whose dream house turns into a nightmare. Kenan is repped by WME and attorney Robert Offer.

[AndyDursin]

Movie is on -- Fox is distributing/co-financing with MGM, production officially announced though there's no cast yet.

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.

[Eric W.]

Still don't want to see it.

[mkaroly]

Still don't want to see it.

Agreed. I like the original and is effective in an 80s way, but it's one of those movies where it would not have worked unless the score was good, and thankfully Goldsmith hit the nail right on the head with it. As such, I have NO CONFIDENCE that a remake could do better, especially in the music department.

[AndyDursin]

Sam Rockwell would be a solid casting choice...good, underrated actor (terrific in The Way Way Back). Rosemary DeWitt is apparently onboard as the mother.

http://www.thewrap.com/movies/column-po ... ive-108546

After stealing every scene in "The Way Way Back," Sam Rockwell is in early talks to star opposite Rosemarie DeWitt in MGM and Fox 2000's "Poltergeist" reboot, TheWrap has learned.

Rockwell is currently weighing several movie offers and hasn't officially decided to take the part, though an individual familiar with the project tells TheWrap that Rockwell is now the filmmakers' top choice -- and that the actor is intrigued by the prospect of a lead role in a studio movie produced by horror maestro Sam Raimi.

Rockwell's representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment. MGM, which is co-financing, had no comment.

Gil Kenan ("Monster House") is directing the "Poltergeist" remake from a script by David Lindsay-Abaire, who penned "Oz: The Great and Powerful" for Raimi.

Should a deal work out, Rockwell would play the patriarch of the Bowen family -- they were the Freeling family in the original -- whose lives are uprooted when youngest daughter Madison (originally Carol Anne) is abducted by supernatural forces that trap her in the netherworld between life and death.

Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams starred in Tobe Hooper's original 1982 classic, which was co-written and produced by Steven Spielberg. Raimi and Rob Tapert will produce the "Poltergeist" reboot via their Ghost House Pictures banner along with Roy Lee, while Nathan Kahane will executive produce.

20th Century Fox will handle marketing and worldwide distribution.

[DavidBanner]

I think this is a ridiculous idea, although I'm frankly more taken aback by the notion of Brett Ratner inflicting a Hercules movie...

This all frankly sounds like a desperate attempt to cash in on the name of a well-known Spielberg movie that many people haven't actually watched in a while. Same thing with doing a remake of Robocop - I doubt many people have been actively watching that movie for a while either. They're both very good movies, particularly when it comes to the popcorn factor, but neither is particularly memorable when you get down to it.

SPOILER ALERT: The original Poltergeist script is actually a lift from the Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost", where the daughter rolls under the bed and into another dimension. And it's not about rescuing the girl "from the clutches of evil" by any means. Poltergeist presents one nasty spirit but also a bunch of others that are simply lost between planes of existence. Even when the movie resorts to the "family in peril" 3rd act idea, they balance that out by saying a lot of it is due to the real estate company actually building all the houses over the unmoved bodies from the cemetery. To me, in the end, the anger of the ghosts is more than understandable, although it's really mean of them to pick on the Freelings. (Of course, at the very end as they drive away, you see that other houses are starting to have their own "problems"...)

I also take issue with the press release referring to this movie as a "Tobe Hooper classic". I've worked with people who acted in that movie. It was a Spielberg movie, and Hooper only directed scenes when Spielberg wasn't on set. Most of the scenes were directed by Spielberg, and you can easily tell from watching the staging and framing. (The entire sequence of rescuing the girl is classic Spielberg material, not just the writing but the staging). This situation was so discussed at the time that Spielberg actually took out a Hollywood Reporter ad to try to publicly discuss their "unique working relationship". What seems to have happened is that Spielberg couldn't officially direct Poltergeist at the time due to his commitment to E.T., so Hooper was a convenient name to plug in. And I'm sure Hooper had plenty of input - Spielberg was happy to get it from the director of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (I think the bit with Marty removing his face was a Hooper gag) But there's a reason you don't see Hooper discussing this movie very often.

[AndyDursin]

They're both very good movies, particularly when it comes to the popcorn factor, but neither is particularly memorable when you get down to it.

POLTERGEIST is one of my favorite films of the early '80s -- I think it's extremely memorable and is regarded as such in its genre -- though I don't think ROBOCOP is any kind of classic. I always found critically overpraised (like a lot of Verhoeven's films, it leaves you with a bad taste in the mouth, though it has its moments). I do think "Poltergeist" has maintained its status among viewers, but "Robocop" isn't a film I ever see people discussing.

Whether or not it's a dumb idea to remake it -- and it could totally suck -- I still think it's a smart commercial move by Fox and MGM. THE CONJURING got a lot of people who don't go to horror movies back into theaters (I can tell for you a fact my 80 year aunt and uncle both went to see it; my mom's best friend, who is 75, went to see it; the priest who married Joanne and I went to see it! These are not people I'd ever imagine would EVER go into a film like that). It's already turned into one of the more successful supernatural films of all-time.

Coming off the success of that film -- which despite its R rating, showed you didn't need gore and blood to entertain audiences -- I think it's a prime spot to put POLTERGEIST back into play from a commercial perspective. That's, again, not to say it's going to be any good. They could take the wrong tact with the material and botch it entirely. I'm just saying, the timing is ripe -- you've got the average moviegoer's interest piqued with supernatural movies because of "The Conjuring," so give them something else along those lines and it could be a hit. IF it's any good.

(Of course, at the very end as they drive away, you see that other houses are starting to have their own "problems"...)

Interesting, I never interpreted that from the end of the film.

I also take issue with the press release referring to this movie as a "Tobe Hooper classic". I've worked with people who acted in that movie. It was a Spielberg movie, and Hooper only directed scenes when Spielberg wasn't on set. Most of the scenes were directed by Spielberg, and you can easily tell from watching the staging and framing. (The entire sequence of rescuing the girl is classic Spielberg material, not just the writing but the staging). This situation was so discussed at the time that Spielberg actually took out a Hollywood Reporter ad to try to publicly discuss their "unique working relationship". What seems to have happened is that Spielberg couldn't officially direct Poltergeist at the time due to his commitment to E.T., so Hooper was a convenient name to plug in. And I'm sure Hooper had plenty of input - Spielberg was happy to get it from the director of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. (I think the bit with Marty removing his face was a Hooper gag) But there's a reason you don't see Hooper discussing this movie very often.

I remember, years back, we discussed a Zelda Rubinstein interview where she talked about how Hooper was always in the corner of the room being miserable and not saying anything. Can't recall the link but I also believe she also said he was using drugs during the shoot and the actors seldom took direction from him.

Beyond that, like you said David, all you need to see is the film itself to realize Spielberg is all over that film. Plus the old Making Of Poltergeist featurette from the laserdisc where Spielberg is the one giving direction to everyone.

It's a Spielberg film in every way IMO, from the camera work to the scoring to the relationships of the characters to the narrative flow. He was more than just a "hands on producer," and all that Hollywood Reporter stuff was just PR to smooth over the situation...the movie was his baby, from having written the initial story, co-written the script, etc. I think he ended up being much more "available" than he thought he'd be, which is why he was always there (and why the film turned out so well).

Also, IMO, there's a reason nobody has ever produced a legit supplement for any home video release of the film. The film was a huge hit, and yet we've never had a commentary, a retrospective documentary, no deleted scenes....hell, Warner Bros. wouldn't even put that MAKING OF POLTERGEIST on the DVD or Blu-Ray release! It's not just a coincidence.

[AndyDursin]

This page has lots of good quotes including that Zelda Rubinstein conversation:

http://www.poltergeist.poltergeistiii.com/really.html

Zelda Rubinstein: I can tell you that Steven directed all six days I was there. I only worked six days on the film and Steven was there. Tobe set up the shots and Steven made the adjustments. You’re not going to hear that from Tobe Hooper, you’ll hear it from Zelda, because that was my honest to God experience. I’m not a fan of Tobe Hooper.

Quint: You’re not?

Zelda Rubinstein: No, I’m not, because I feel he allowed… I don’t know how to say this… he allowed some unacceptable chemical agents into his work.

I felt that immediately. I felt that when I first interviewed for the job. Steven was there, Tobe was there, two casting people from MGM were there and I felt at that time Tobe was only partially there.