Sony’s Screen Gems and Spyglass are developing a reimagining of the Japanese horror film Pulse, and Deadline reports that Never After Dark filmmaker Dave Boyle is set to direct.
Boyle will also give a pass on the script by Luke Piotrowski (Hellraiser, The Night House).
Parker Finn and Jonathan Fass are set to produce for Bad Feeling, which is behind the upcoming Possession remake.
2001’s Pulse, written and directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, follows two groups of people who discover evidence that suggests spirits may be trying to invade the human world through the Internet. The remake will be set in the modern era, revolving around a new set of characters.
Our own Patrick Brennan called the techno-horror movie a “rare kind of film that can terrify viewers through sheer atmosphere alone. Shadows engulf the majority of its frames, and you quickly learn that anything could be hiding within that darkness. Eventually, even a simple silhouette in the background of a shot is enough to send goosebumps down your spine.“
In other words, Boyle and team have their work cut out for them when it comes to capturing the unsettling quality of Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s enduring chiller.
The news arrives as Boyle’s Never After Dark gears up for release later this month.
I wrote in my SXSW review that it’s “a conventional atmospheric haunted house with a unique approach to the supernatural. It’s that new wrinkle, along with an unwaveringly cool heroine, that sets it apart.”
That Boyle is attached is fitting, as the filmmaker has exclusively told stories either set in Japan or revolving around Japanese or Japanese-American characters.
Stay tuned for more as it arrives.
