Movies
‘Cubed’ Can’t Escape Development Hell
I absolutely could care less about remakes. To this writer a good movie is a good movie, and the same goes for one that’s bad. Being a remake or reboot has nothing to do with it. There’ proof all through history, including John Carpenter’s The Thing and Gore Verbinski’s The Ring.
Some remakes feel like a cheap cash-grab, while other have so much potential it’s criminal to not attempt a reboot. Such the case with Vincenzo Natali’s masterful 1997 indie Cube, which follows six complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics who are involuntarily placed in an endless kafkaesque maze containing deadly traps.
Lionsgate had been developing a modern take on the film, titled Cubed, with Prometheus screenwriter Jon Spaihts writing and hot up-and-comer Saman Kesh (watch “Controller”) attached to direct. Now, it appears that the duo can’t escape development hell.
“I have been involved with it,” Spaihts told AITH. “I think it’s resting right now as we look for a new creative direction, but we still are inspired by the vision of that original, independent, high-concept film. With any luck, we’ll still bring a new iteration of that story to light.”
When asked if Kesh was still attached to the project, he said:
“To be honest, I’ll have to check. I don’t know.”
Update: Bloody Disgusting caught up with Kesh who shared this statement:
“Cube has potential to be a great re-Invisioned film. Spaihts and I have been working hard on our vision of a reboot for the last year and a half.
“Unfortunately, the cogs of studios sometimes don’t move at the pace we’d all like. As for now, it looks to be some time before we’ll see a reboot.”
Vincenzo Natali’s film festival hit that spawned two sequels (Cube: Hypercube and Cube Zero). Roy Lee (Cabin Fever, The Ring) is producing the remake.
Movies
‘Ebenezer’ – Johnny Depp is Scrooge on First Official Poster for Ti West’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Movie
Ti West (X, Pearl, MaXXXine) is taking his own crack at the classic Charles Dickens tale A Christmas Carol with his next movie, the ghost story Ebenezer starring Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp will play Ebenezer Scrooge in Ti West’s Ebenezer, and Paramount is bringing the film to theaters on November 13, 2026. Check out the official poster below.
The tagline? “The name you know. The story you don’t.”
Andrea Riseborough (Possessor), Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings), Tramell Tillman (“Severance”), Rupert Grint (Harry Potter franchise), Daisy Ridley (Star Wars franchise), Sam Claflin (The Hunger Games franchise), Charlie Murphy (“Peaky Blinders”), Arthur Conti (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), and Ellie Bamber (“Willow”) also star.
Deadline had detailed in a recent report, “This version, a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, follows one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance. Stephen Deuters and Jason Forman to executive produce.”
Nathaniel Halpern wrote the adaptation for Ti West to direct.
Written by Charles Dickens, the classic tale of A Christmas Carol has been adapted for the screen countless times over the years, with notable film adaptations including Scrooge (1951) starring Alastair Sim, Scrooge (1970) starring Albert Finney, A Christmas Carol (1984) starring George C. Scott, Scrooged (1988) starring Bill Murray, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) starring Michael Caine, and A Christmas Carol (2009) starring Jim Carrey.
A Christmas Carol is classically a period piece ghost story. As Luiz H.C. wrote here on Bloody Disgusting, “Isn’t it weird how the single most influential piece of Christmas-related media is technically a horror story? One can even make the argument that Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol paved the way for the rise of Victorian Spiritualism during the following decade.”
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