The Poltergeist Remake is Greenlit

POLTERGEIST is set to be haunting a new generation of audiences as shooting on Gil Kenan‘s remake of Poltergeist has been set to begin this September.  MGM and Fox 2000 has sent out a press release announcing that they’ll co-finance the picture, and it will indeed shoot this fall.  Per the press release, “In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of evil.” [hit the jump to check out the press release for this project]

MGM has partnered with Fox 2000 Pictures, a division of Twentieth Century Fox, to co-finance and distribute the film “Poltergeist,” it was announced by MGM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Gary Barber and Twentieth Century Fox Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jim Gianopulos.

Gil Kenan (“Monster House”) is set to direct from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, David Lindsay-Abaire (whose recent credits include “Oz: The Great and Powerful”). The film is being produced by Sam Raimi (“Evil Dead”) and Rob Tapert (“The Posession”) via Ghost House Pictures, along with Roy Lee (“The Strangers”). Nathan Kahane (“The Grudge”) will serve as executive producer.

In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of evil.

“Poltergeist” is scheduled to begin production this Fall.

MGM is currently in production with Paramount on the original film “Hercules,” directed by Brett Ratner and starring Dwayne Johnson due for release July 25, 2014 as well as the sequel to the 2010 cult hit “Hot Tub Time Machine.” The studio has several upcoming films slated for release including “Carrie” with Sony’s Screen Gems due October 18, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” the second film in “The Hobbit” Trilogy with New Line Cinema/Warner Bros. set for December 13 and “RoboCop” with Columbia Pictures scheduled for February 7, 2014.