20th Century Fox has shuffled around their upcoming summer slate. Now, we’re set to be haunted by those invisible ghosties in Poltergeist two months earlier than scheduled. Also affected by the changes are Melissa McCarthy-Paul Feig comedy, Spy, and John Green adaptation, Paper Towns. The Poltergeist reboot will now land on May 22, the date originally held by Spy, which itself shifts to June 5. Paper Towns, meanwhile, now nabs the July 24 slot that was previously held by Poltergeist.
The reboot of Tobe Hooper’s 1982 original scarefest was developed by producer Sam Raimi and director Gil Kenan. A ‘loose’ adaptation the eighties take, this modern day Poltergeist stars Rosemary Dewitt and Sam Rockwell as a married couple whose recent move to a new home comes with its price; they have to share it with ghosts. On top of that, the unseen beasties steal their daughter and begin taunting her parents. While its said to have a family-friendly PG-13 rating, based on the first couple of trailers, it’s still going to share the bejesus out of you.
In terms of competition, Poltergeist now faces off against Brad Bird’s hopeful blockbuster, Tomorrowland, Mark Neveldine’s The Vatican Tapes, Thomas Cailley’s romance Love at First Fight, and Claudia Llosa’s indie drama Aloft. Not sharing the limelight with any fierce competition ought to ensure that Kenan’s scarefest will clean up at the box office.
Neither Spy nor Paper Towns faces any stiff competition, either. The former may struggle a little against the Entourage movie – although chances are the studio are hoping Spy will secure women over the male-centric Entourage crowd. The latter is scheduled to open alongside two big blockbuster offerings: Chris Columbus’ Pixels and Joe Wright’s Pan, along with Woody Allen’s Irrational Man. To be honest, considering its source material was penned by The Fault In Our Stars’ author, Fox could open it against Star Wars: The Force Awakens and it would probably do just fine.