To quote Carol Anne Freeling’s famous line from the Poltergeist franchise: “They’re back!”
It was announced Monday that Joe and Anthony Russo are officially reviving Poltergeist in the near future. The iconic horror flick terrified audiences back in 1982 and has been lauded as a classic ever since. The bone-chilling plot revolves around the simple premise of a family whose quaint home is overtaken by evil ghosts. What happens next has heavily influenced countless scary movies over the years and helped spawn several sequels that continued to frighten moviegoers throughout the ’80s.
The Russo brothers aren’t the first to think of reviving the highly successful franchise, though. This will be the second time the movie has been remade this decade. The 2015 attempt of the same name was directed by Gil Kenan and received largely negative reviews from critics and fans alike.
Fans are hopeful that this upcoming attempt will be just as scary as the original and at the very least, it’s safe to say that the movie is in good hands now that the Russo brothers are reportedly involved. The highly talented directors have made a name for themselves with several blockbuster Marvel movies in recent years, including Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.
This project is just the latest in a string of planned remakes already announced by the two filmmaking siblings. The rapidly rising directors have been quite busy resurrecting old movies as of late and as such, they’ve recently been given permission to dig deep into the MGM archives to remake any movie they see fit.
While Poltergeist may be one of the first items on their list, it certainly won’t be the last. Given MGM’s massive filmography, the Russo brothers will have enough options to keep fans satisfied for a very long time to come.
