Did you know that Universal was planning to remake Poltergeist? I didn’t. Furthermore, did you know that horror director extraordinaire Sam Raimi is producing said remake, and now there’s a rumor that he might even be directing it? Well, you know now.
The rumor comes to us via The Film Stage; and it really is a rumor. Sam Raimi has been attached to the Poltergeist remake for awhile now, but only in a producer capacity. Now there is word that Raimi’s Oz: The Great and Powerful collaborator David Lindsay-Abaire has indicated that the Drag Me To Hell director might be heading back to horror for Poltergeist.
Lindsay-Abaire is writing the screenplay for this remake (reboot?) of the Spielberg-produced 1982 horror classic about a haunted suburban house built on – that’s right – an old cemetary. The film was directed by Tobe Hooper, but is very much a Spielbergian production, down to the family drama and little-girl-in-danger scenario. It’s also still scary as hell.
The original film is beloved by horror fans and as such I’d normally be skeptical about any sort of a remake. But with Sam Raimi potentially in the director’s chair on this one, I’d be willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. Few directors have the Evil Dead filmmaker’s sensibility about horror and humor. A remake of Poltergeist would be right up his dark and spooky alley.
As of right now, this is just a rumor, though. A wonderful, magical rumor.
As always, we’ll keep an eye on developments as they happen.