Movies
‘Saw’ Producer to Remake ‘Pumpkinhead’
The 1988 horror slasher Pumpkinhead is the latest horror film to land on the “remake” table, although the man behind the updated version is trying his best to prove that his intentions are nothing short of honorable.
Peter Block, known as one of the executive producers of the Saw franchise, has obtained the rights to the Pumpkinhead franchise, according to EW, and he wants to bring the creature back from the cinema graveyard. He enlisted a young scribe by the name of Nate Atkins to write the script.
“‘Pumpkinhead’ is one of my favorite horror films of the late ’80s, early ’90s. Stan Winston sits on that Mount Rushmore of iconic filmmakers because of his creature designs, and that was his first directing effort. The creature’s great but the emotional story is wonderful as well,” Block explains.
The updated version is going to pay homage to the original film but only those who know the first well will catch on. “There’s a lot of Easter eggs for people who know the original — iconic shots and iconic lines that we’re going to use.” However, Block assures everyone that there is a purpose to this remake, stating, “…we’ve enhanced the setting, and we’ve expanded the characters somewhat, to give it a different kind of experience.”
Perhaps the biggest point that Block makes is that he recognizes the respect the horror community has for Stan Winston and practical FX, saying, “I am a big proponent of practical effects. That was the great thing about the original. A lot of the films I still respond to most today, it’s because of the practical effects. We think that it’s going to be a nice slow reveal, lots of scares and lots of action in the beginning, and a great creature in the end, which everybody should be able to look at and say, ‘Oh, that’s Pumpkinhead!’ It’s not like you’re all of a sudden going to find that it’s some amorphous, nebulous, CGI wispy thing. You’re going to know it came from the Pumpkinhead family lineage.”
In the original film, which starred Lance Henriksen (Aliens, Alien3), a store owner is overcome with grief after the accidental death of his son. Seeking out vengeance, he teams with a local witch to raise the entity known as “Pumpkinhead” so that those who cause him so much grief can suffer their own horrific fates.
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are reteaming for the long-awaited 28 Years Later horror sequel trilogy, and the first film in that new trilogy now has a release date.
28 Years Later arrives in theaters on June 20, 2025 from Sony.
Jack O’Connell (Amy Winehouse: Back To Black) has joined the previously announced Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu) in the upcoming 28 Years Later.
Alex Garland will write the first film and Boyle will return to direct. Nia DaCosta (Candyman, The Marvels) will direct the second installment in the trilogy from Sony Pictures.
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer.
The original movie in 2002 starred Cillian Murphy and was written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle. In the smash hit horror film, “Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.”
A sequel, 28 Weeks Later, arrived in 2007. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo took over as director. In the sequel, which starred Jeremy Renner, “Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes according to plan.”
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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