One of the best horror movies of the 1970s, Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes helped put the filmmaker on the map following his controversially received debut The Last House on the Left. We received a sequel to the original, as well as an Alexandre Aja remake in 2006, which itself produced a follow-up. But it now seems that, according to our sources, the producers behind the series want to go back for another reboot of the material and are eyeing Fede Álvarez of Evil Dead and Don’t Breathe fame to put it together.
A second remake of The Hills Have Eyes was always a possibility, of course, given the commercial success of Aja’s 2006 remake and the current drive to emulate the success of the Halloween series. To this end, Alvarez is also involved in a new version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, while we should be getting more updates on a new Nightmare on Elm Street and (legal issues permitting) a revival of the Friday the 13th franchise.
At the moment, we don’t have any specific details on this fresh take on The Hills Have Eyes, but given that these are the same sources who told us Hopper would be back for Stranger Things season 4, and about Han’s comeback in Fast & Furious 9, we’ve no reason to doubt them. Of course, it’s always best to be cautious with news when it comes to projects that are so early on in the development cycle, but it makes sense that Fox, who produced the earlier remake, and are presumably still attached to the material, see potential in The Hills Have Eyes.
For those not in the know, Craven’s 1977 horror flick sees a suburban family get stranded in the Nevada desert, whereupon they have to fight for survival against a cannibalistic family. Craven was also involved in the sequels and even Aja’s version, so it’s possible that the decision to make a new Hills Have Eyes is linked to the current copyright issue with his estate, and more general legal factors around older genre properties.
In any case, we’d love to see Alvarez’s take on The Hills Have Eyes, after he did such a great job with Evil Dead, and we’ll be sure to bring you more news on the project as and when it emerges, so stay tuned.