Hey, Hasn't Poltergeist Been Remade Yet?
Filed under: Horror, MGM, Remakes and Sequels
OK, here's the portion of your day in which I mention that someone's about to get working on a Poltergeist remake and you get all annoyed and frustrated and decide to write a strongly-worded rant in the comments section, only you forget to approve your comment via email, which means nobody will ever know your opinion that A) Poltergeist is a classic, B) classics shouldn't be remade, and C) "screenwriter" Steven Spielberg really ghost-directed the movie for Tobe Hooper.But we already know all of these things, and apparently that knowledge is not going to stop a remake from getting made. According to BD.com, the original plan was to take a work-in-progress called Poltergeist: Kayeri and retrofit the thing into some sort of "re-imagining" of 1982's second-best horror movie. But now it looks like the Poltergeist remake will be starting entirely from scratch ... and the more time they need the better, if it's me you're asking. (Well, I know these remakes are inevitable, but I'm certainly not in a huge hurry to see what some first-time rock-video director and a guy who once wrote three episodes of The X-Files would do with one of modern cinema's very finest ghost stories.)
And I'll use this scant piece of semi-news to remind you how pretty darn awesome Poltergeist actually is. Smart, spooky, playfully dark, just gory enough to please the geeks and just mild enough to warrant a Friday night family movie night. If you haven't seen the flick in a long time, I highly recommend you give Poltergeist a second visit. But dear sweet jeebus, please stop after the first one. The sequels are house-devouringly bad.
And while we're on the subject, doesn't Poltergeist seem like a movie that's just screaming for a swanky new 2-disc Special Edition DVD? Frankly the current DVD kinda sucks.
UPDATE: The illustrious SpielbergFilms.com, which I DO consider a reliable source tyvm, is reporting that this project is (as of this moment) not happening. Stay tuned for additional news -- if there is any.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-28-2006 @ 7:47PM
Navstar said...
The only good thing about remakes, is that the originals get extra fancy DVD releases. (See Aeon Flux, Superman, Batman, Planet of the Apes, King Kong, etc)
Reply
11-28-2006 @ 9:40PM
Steven Awalt said...
Speaking of the need for a robust "Poltergeist" DVD, Warner Bros. (the video rights holder) has a special edition in the works for the film's 25th anniversary next year.
Back to the subject at hand, I haven't been able to substantiate the rumors about this remake with Amblin/DreamWorks yet, but a massive part of me hopes to God they are indeed just rumors. "Poltergeist" is every bit the Spielberg film that "E.T." and "Close Encounters" are (all three films are from his imagination more directly than any of his other works). Remaking this film would be almost as shameful as remaking "E.T."
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11-28-2006 @ 9:49PM
Steven Awalt said...
Oh, and I believe you (Scott Weinberg), once wrote some very nice words about our site, SpielbergFilms.com. I could never find a way to thank you for that over at Rotten Tomatoes, but if you're the same Mr. Weinberg, thank you very much!
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11-28-2006 @ 10:46PM
Scott K said...
When did Aeon Flux get remade? I thought it was the live action version of the animated show.
And Batman and Superman haven't really been re-made in the same sense as things like The Amityville Horror or other horror remakes. Batman is more of a "re-launch" and Superman is a continuation of sorts. They are also far better than the horror remakes that have been made lately.
I don't care to see Poltergeist remade since I probably wouldn't see it, but a nice fancy DVD (and HD-DVD/Blu-ray) release would be nice.
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11-29-2006 @ 1:03AM
David said...
This is what I received from someone who was connected with the original film regarding the alleged remake:
"there is NO truth to this...it is all bullshit..."
I've also heard from another source who received this quote from MGM/Sony:
"it's possible, and it has been discussed before, but heard nothing about it lately".
Regards,
David
www.poltergeistIII.com
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