Movies
MGM Partners With Fox 2000 On Modern ‘Poltergeist’
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) has partnered with Fox 2000 Pictures, a division of Twentieth Century Fox, to co-finance and distribute the film Poltergeist, it was announced today by MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Barber and Twentieth Century Fox Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Gianopulos. Gil Kenan (Monster House) is set to direct from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, David Lindsay-Abaire (whose recent credits include “Oz: The Great and Powerful). The film is being produced by Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and Rob Tapert (The Posession) via Ghost House Pictures, along with Roy Lee (The Strangers). Nathan Kahane (The Grudge) will serve as executive producer.
Poltergeist will be marketed and distributed worldwide by Twentieth Century Fox, with select international territories as well as international television distribution being handled by MGM. Fox will also handle home entertainment and domestic television. MGM and Twentieth Century Fox continue their longtime partnership as Fox also distributes MGM’s home entertainment product.
“In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of evil.”
Poltergeist is scheduled to begin production this Fall.
MGM is currently in production with Paramount on the original film Hercules, directed by Brett Ratner and starring Dwayne Johnson due for release July 25, 2014 as well as the sequel to the 2010 cult hit Hot Tub Time Machine. The studio has several upcoming films slated for release including Carrie” with Sony’s Screen Gems due October 18, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the second film in The Hobbit Trilogy with New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. set for December 13 and RoboCop with Columbia Pictures scheduled for February 7, 2014.
Brendan Fraser is back for the upcoming fourth installment in The Mummy franchise from directors Radio Silence, and Michael Johnston (Obsession) is now in talks to join him.
The Hollywood Reporter lets us know tonight that Michael Johnston is in “early talks” to join The Mummy 4, which will release in theaters on October 15, 2027 via Universal.
Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and John Hannah will reprise their iconic roles as Rick O’Connell, Evelyn O’Connell, and Jonathan Carnahan in the upcoming movie.
Radio Silence duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not, Scream 5-6) are directing from a script by David Coggeshall (Orphan: First Kill).
Plot details are being kept under wraps at this time, but the brand new sequel is expected to disregard the events of the third movie, in which Rachel Weisz did not appear.
“It’s just really beautiful and scary and sweeping, and it’s awesome,” Gillet teases. Bettinelli-Olpin adds that the film “has all of the heart and the character that you could hope for.”
A remake of the classic Universal monster movie that took an action-adventure approach, The Mummy was released in 1999 and grossed $417 million worldwide. It was followed by The Mummy Returns in 2001 and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008.
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