The internet horror community was in an uproar earlier this week when we detailed Laid to Rest director Rob Hall’s plans to remake Chopping Mall… without killer robots. Long story short, Hall thinks killer robots are too silly, so the script he wrote instead centers on “mannequins that are possessed by the souls of dead slaves.”
He added, “It’s more The Fog set in an abandoned mall than it is robots.”
So is that remake of Chopping Mall actually happening? As it turns out, Hall has been trying to get it off the ground for many years now (budget issues reportedly held it up), and it seems he doesn’t actually even possess the rights to be able to make it anymore.
Jim Wynorski, director of the original Chopping Mall, says it’s not happening.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Wynorski wrote on Facebook. “Lionsgate owns the US home video rights to Chopping Mall and they were never even consulted by Robert Hall. [Roger] Corman may have given Hall an option seven years ago, but it’s long since expired.”
He added in another Facebook comment, “I’ve been aware of Hall’s plans to remake CM for at least ten years – and if you can’t pull it together in a decade, well I suggest moving on to something else. Chopping Mall wouldn’t be Chopping Mall without the robots.”
Sadly, things seem to be getting ugly between Hall and Wynorski on social media, but we’re staying out of all that. All we know is, don’t count on Hall’s remake happening.
Probably for the best.
