It was announced back in 2014 that Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures was getting to work on rebooting The Grudge. The 2004 remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar was a huge hit for the company (and stands up as being one of the better films of that craze of remaking absolutely any and every horror film that came from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong). Now, it’s finally moving forward, and it’s got an excellent filmmaker attached.
Deadline reports that Nicolas Pesce, the writer and director of the chilling indie horror The Eyes Of My Mother, has signed on to direct and rewrite the script, which had been written by Midnight Meat Train‘s Jeff Buhler. Pesce is currently wrapping up his second film, Piercing, which stars Mia Wasikowska and Christopher Abbott.
However you feel about the prospect of another Grudge movie, he’s definitely an interesting choice for the material. The Eyes Of My Mother was stylish, controlled and deeply creepy, and it feels like he’d be a good fit. So, you know, fingers crossed.
The original 2002 Japanese film was directed by Takashi Shimizu, who also directed the first American remake, which follows an unstoppable curse that is passed on from victim to victim. In the first American remake, Gellar starred as an nurse visiting Japan “who was afflicted by a curse that created uncontrollable homicidal rage.”
The remake was followed by two sequels, which seems paltry in comparison to the Japanese Ju-On franchise, which is made up of nine films including Sadako Vs Kayako. Oh, Sadako Vs Kayako…
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