this will be what, the fourth remake? "hey, CGI exists - what can we remake???" dumb.Deadline wrote:Simon West To Helm ‘The Blob’ Remake; Goldcrest Selling At EFM: Berlin
It crawls! It creeps! It’s getting a remake. Goldcrest Films is set to co-produce an update of 1958 horror/sci-fi classic The Blob. Simon West (Wild Card, The Mechanic, Expendables 2) is directing with principal photography eyed for this summer. Producers are Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten (Silent Night). Korea’s Taewon Entertainment and A-List Corporation are co-financing with Goldcrest.
The original film, which was released by Paramount, starred a young Steve McQueen. The story sees a gelatinous alien life-form emerge from a crashed meteor and begin to ooze through Downtingon, Pennsylvania, eating the townsfolk as it goes.
Goldcrest is also handling international sales and distribution and will launch the film at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin. UTA is brokering U.S. distribution rights; the agency reps West.
A 1972 sequel, Beware! The Blob, was helmed by Larry Hagman, and in 1988, Chuck Russell directed Kevin Dillon in a remake of the original. West says, “With modern CGI we can now fully realize the potential of The Blob. The world I create will be totally believable, immersive and emotionally satisfying. It’s a thrill to introduce an enduring icon to a wider audience and a whole new era of fans.”
Goldcrest Post will provide picture and sound post-production services and VFX under supervisor Chris Haney (Carol, The Avengers).
The 1958 film’s producer, Jack H Harris, will exec produce along with Judith Parker Harris, Shara Kay, and Laurence Freed. Pascal Degove and Nick Quested are exec producers for Goldcrest; with Tae Won Chung for Taewon and Ju Young You for A-List. Michael Roban, Michael Harpster, Kyu C Lee, Armen Aghaeian, Edward Mokhtarian, Geno Tazioli, Holly Kobzina and Paul Harris Boardman are also executive producers.
Pascal Degove, Managing Director of Goldcrest, says, “Simon West has a unique gift for blending cutting edge effects, awesome visual spectacle and a hint of humor. He’s the perfect choice to reimagine The Blob and we’re so excited to be partnering with him.”
Saperstein and Witten most recently produced Cell, based on the Stephen King novel and starring John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson, for release later this year. They say, “We grew up on The Blob. Simon West has a terrific and terrifying vision for bringing this iconic outer-space creature to life for a new generation. We’re grateful to Jack Harris for the opportunity to reintroduce a classic franchise, and to Goldcrest and Taewon for joining us on this journey.” The producers are represented by attorney Bill Grantham of Rufus-Isaacs, Acland, & Grantham.
Re: The Blob (again)
2Yeah, was gonna say, the attraction of throwing CGI at this was too great for someone I guess. Never did bother with any of them, although my wife likes to tell the tale of watching the original when she was too young and not being able to sleep that night.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."
Re: The Blob (again)
4I'll keep my eyes out for it. Actually think we stopped on it while channel surfing a few weeks back but it didn't grab me.
"I'm like a dog chasing cars, I wouldn't know what to do if I caught one. . . . I'm not a schemer. I just do things."
Re: The Blob (again)
5thankfully this remake didn't happen, but this feels like as good a thread as any to continue the discussion of the amazing Kevin Dillon vehicle, 1988's "The Blob". rewatched it again after many years over the weekend and goddamn is it great. i loved it still. it holds up for sure. some of the "dated" looking effects were on purpose, complete homage to the original film, while the other kills have incredible practical effects. it really is a full-on classic. also, a young jeffrey demunn killing it, although a bummer that his actual death is off screen. so many moments of "hey, that guy" can be had here as well. and once again, the practical effects are fucking great. this was directed by Chuck Russell, who directed his first film the year before with Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. one would think that NOES3 would have had a significantly higher budget than this, but not according to IMDB: NOES3 budget was $4.5MM, this budget was $19MM (!!!). i find those figures hard to believe, but that's what it says. i mean, he got Dokken to record an original song for NOES3 - arguably in their prime - which had to be expensive. for this film, he tried to follow the same end credits formula, but it's a generic hard rock Dokken sound-alike band called Alien with the out of nowhere song entitled "Brave New Love". while it's a pretty hilarious song in the context of the 90 minutes before it, it's absolutely no Dokken, and I assume cost them significantly less. regardless, whatever the budget was, they make great use of it here. the story is tight and fun, as it was penned by Frank Darabont (who also wrote NOES3). it really is an underrated flick, and i love it. recommend revisiting.
