It’s an unwritten rule of horror that any franchise with name recognition is forbidden from laying dormant for too long, so is anybody truly going to raise an eyebrow at Poltergeist being the latest to get dusted off and tossed back onto the screen?
Even though a mere eight years have passed since the almost impressively uninteresting remake landed in theaters to be greeted tepidly by critics and audiences alike, Amazon’s acquisition of MGM and desire to reinvigorate as many marketable IPs as possible always made the supernatural saga a prime (no pun intended) candidate for a new lease of life, with Variety revealing that a TV series in the works.
The 1982 original is a stone-cold classic that led to both widespread rumors that co-writer and producer Steven Spielberg had actually – and fittingly – ghost-directed the entire thing, as well as giving rise to the “Poltergeist curse.” From there, two sequels of vastly diminished quality were released, as well as the four-season episodic offshoot Poltergeist: The Legacy, which wasn’t connected to the feature-length trio.
Virtually no other details are available other than the fact it’s happening and Spielberg’s Amblin production company is involved, but will it bring the stagnant saga back to former glories? That remains up for debate, but it could be yet another indicator that the next wave of high-profile horror reboots will be destined for streaming.
After all, Halloween has touted an entire universe that’s set to incorporate small screen storytelling, while Thirteen Ghosts is also rumored to be getting the episodic treatment, too. Does the world need another Poltergeist show? Arguably not, but if it channels the original and nothing else, then maybe it’ll prove its worth.
Published: Oct 30, 2023 12:27 pm