A number of classic horror movie franchises will be soon be making their glorious returns to silver screen. The Hollywood reboot treatment has immensely crept into horror but audiences have no reason to fear. Many of the revivals in development are in very good hands.
Following in the footsteps of IT and Halloween, studios, filmmakers, and writers have been chomping at the bit to create new chapters in the history of long-running horror series. Fresh minds have managed to revitalize the horror genre and by injecting life into classic stories, long-lost franchises now have the chance to come back from the dead.
So what does the future look like for avid horror fans? The genre has seen a boost in high-profile original ideas, and there’s certainly no shortage of massively-anticipated titles on the horizon. But alongside all of that is a slew of classic horror franchises making there return. Here all of the upcoming horror movie reboots currently in development.
Sam Raimi’s Grudge - January 3, 2020
The fourth installment of The Grudge franchise is officially set to release in early 2020. Rather than serve as another sequel as previously reported, Grudge will act as an official reboot. Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert are back producing after sitting out for The Grudge 3. The upcoming film is directed by Nicolas Pesce and the story was developed by Jeff Buhler.
Grudge will follow a detective as she investigates the gruesome murder of an entire family at the hands of a young mother. The house in which the family lived is cursed by a demonic ghost that harms all who enters its doors. The movie stars Andrea Riseborough, Demián Bichir, John Cho, Lin Shaye, Betty Gilpin, and Jacki Weaver.
Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man - March 13, 2020
Development for a remake of The Invisible Man began in 2007 with David S. Goyer set to write the script. Four years passed and development was still at a standstill. Years later, The Invisible Man was reworked to join Universal’s shared cinematic universe, Dark Universe. Those plans crashed and burned after the released of The Mummy. In January 2019, Blumhouse took over the production of The Invisible Man with Leigh Whannell writing and directing the film.
The Invisible Man plans to be a modern adaption of the novel by H. G. Wells, as well as the 1933 classic film. Since the concept of the Dark Universe has been swept aside, the new film will be a standalone story, having no connections to past or future projects. Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting of Hill House) will portray the Invisible Man while the rest of the cast includes Elisabeth Moss, Storm Reid, Aldis Hodge, and Harriet Dyer.
Chris Rock’s Saw - May 15, 2020
The ninth installment to the Saw franchise will be a reimagining of sorts from the mind of comedian Chris Rock. The movie, which is going under the working title, The Organ Donor, is said to serve as a spinoff of the Saw universe that was first introduced in 2004. It will not be a direct sequel to 2017’s Jigsaw but it will still fit in the franchise’s canon.
Darren Lynn Bousman is returning as the director, returning to the franchise after his work on Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV. Rock will be performing double duty with the project as he will also star in the film alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Max Minghella, and Marisol Nichols. As of July 2019, filming was well underway and the production looks to be on track for the May 2020 debut. The new Saw promises to acknowledge the franchise’s legacy while it reinvigorates the terror.
Jordan Peele’s Candyman - June 12, 2020
Jordan Peele will take a shot at rebooting the Candyman franchise with what’s being called a “spiritual sequel.” Considering Peel’s success with Get Out and Us, it seems like he could be the perfect person to attempt the revival. Candyman debuted in 1992 and was based on on the short story “The Forbidden” by Clive Barker. The movie spawned two sequels that never truly lived up to the original. Peele will look to change that.
Tony Todd is set to return to portray the titular character, alongside newcomers Lakeith Stanfield and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Nia DaCosta has been confirmed to direct while Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions is set to produce. The Candyman reboot will look to expand the legend surrounding the horrifying character while also tackling toxic fandom.
Halloween Kills & Halloween Ends - October 16, 2020 & October 15, 2021
After months of rumors, Blumhouse confirmed not one, but two Halloween sequels are on the way. Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends will hit theaters one year apart, in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The cast, including Jamie Lee Curtis, will reprise their roles and David Gordon Green is set to return to direct both sequels. Danny McBride is also coming back to help with the scripts.
Green and McBride struck gold when they retconned every other sequel away and positioning the 2018 film as a direct sequel to the 1978 original. Smarter still, Michael Myers’ survival was teased in order to keep open the possibility of future installments (indeed, a rebooted trilogy could have been on the mind of Blumhouse all along). Halloween Kills will once again pit Michael and Laurie Strode together. Even if the ultimate “Final Girl” doesn’t make it to Halloween Ends, her daughter and granddaughter, Karen (Judy Greer) and Allyson (Andi Matichak), looked capable enough to hold their own against The Shape.
David S. Goyer’s Hellraiser - TBD
Plans to reboot the Hellraiser franchise has been in the works for years. The last installment of the franchise was released in 2018 with the poorly-received Hellraiser: Judgement, although it hasn’t been in theaters since the 1990s. Hellraiser fans can rest easy knowing that a true reboot is coming: David S. Goyer, the writer of The Dark Knight, is penning the script for the upcoming remake.
Goyer is a huge fan of Clive Barker, the man behind the novels that inspired Hellraiser, and intends to reimagine Pinhead and the sadistic Cenobites for a new audience while hitting on the grim elements from the original. Goyer recently worked on Terminator: Dark Fate and Masters of the Universe. There is no word regarding a release date for the new Hellraiser.
LeBron James’ Friday the 13th - TBD
Thanks in part to legal battles and confusing distribution rights, the Friday the 13th franchise has been in development hell for a decade. During that limbo period, a number of reboots and sequels were in the works before they were deemed dead in the water. Now, it looks like NBA star LeBron James could emerge as the savior to the Friday the 13th franchise. James is looking to revive Jason Voorhees from the depths of Camp Crystal Lake for a new installment.
James’ production company, SpringHill Entertainment plans to partner with Vertigo Entertainment to bring the Friday the 13th franchise to the big screen. The athlete reportedly joined the Los Angeles Lakers in order to advance his Hollywood presence. He previously worked on Trainwreck and voiced a character in Smallfoot. James is currently developing Space Jam 2.
Alan B. McElroy’s Wrong Turn - TBD
Wrong Turn premiered in 2003 and followed a deformed group of cannibals as they hunted people in the mountains of West Virginia. The slasher movie spawned two sequels, two prequels, and a standalone installment in the following decade. The creator of the original movie, Alan B. McElroy, has announced early plans to remake the 2003 film with Mike P. Nelson set to direct. No further details have been released.
Next: Why Friday the 13th’s Reboot Keeps Getting Canceled
- The Grudge Release Date: 2020-01-03 The Invisible Man Release Date: 2020-02-28 Invisible Man Release Date: 2020-02-28
