The Grudge Gets the Reboot Treatment

Here we go again. The horror hit THE GRUDGE started out as a hit Japanese film, JU-ON back in 2002. It was written and directed by Takashi Shimizu and was a runaway hit. It took your average ghost story and amped up the creep factor 100-fold. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really a huge fan of J-horror but JU-ON really captured some amazingly creepy visuals. JU-ON was such a success that in 2004 it got the remake treatment. But in a smart decision they kept on the original director (Takashi Shimizu) and it was still set in Japan. Nice moves!! The remake, titled THE GRUDGE, went on to become a huge hit. Made for about $10 million, THE GRUDGE grossed about $187 million worldwide.

You know a bunch of Hollywood execs ears have pricked up.

Now THE GRUDGE is getting the reboot treatment. Deadline is reporting that Ghost House Pictures and Good Universe will be relaunching the franchise. Deadline also reports that Jeff Buhler (who wrote MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN) is set to write the reboot;

The new one will be produced by Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert and Taka Ichise, with Roy Lee, Doug Davison, Joe Drake and Nathan Kahane exec producing.

I really don’t see how the 2004 film can be improved upon story-wise but what the hell. In this article Deadline also mentions that Buhler is also hard at work on a new version of JACOB’S LADDER. This, dear readers, does’t sit well with me at all!! We’re going to get a CGI-laddened, soulless JACOB’S LADDER remake. The original is a damn neat perfect film with some of the best performances I’ve seen in a genre film. Oh well.

What do you think? Ready for a rebooted THE GRUDGE? Ready for a remake of JACOB’S LADDER?

Stay Bloody!!!