Little Shop Of Horrors Is Being Rebooted By A Legendary Horror-Comedy Director
Get in, loser, we're bringing back the horror/comedy. Recent attempts to find our next great, mainstream-friendly horror franchise have mostly involved such uninspired efforts as Disney's "Haunted Mansion" remake and, most recently, the news that Hollywood is giving "The Blob" another shot. This time, however, no lesser talents than horror legends Joe Dante and Roger Corman are teaming up to reboot the classic 1960 film "The Little Shop of Horrors." Even the most ardently anti-remake fan out there would have to admit that this feels like a win-win.
The exciting news comes courtesy of Deadline, which reports that this "reimagining" is meant to kickstart a whole new franchise, a phrase that would surely cause a shiver to run down the spine of anyone who witnessed something like Universal's "Dark Universe" gambit flame out in spectacular fashion ... if it weren't for the filmmakers involved on this project, that is. Dante (best known for "Gremlins," aka the movie with those little critters that have turned into the unofficial Letterboxd mascot) will direct the reboot, working from a script by writer Charles S. Haas ("Gremlins 2: The New Batch"). Corman, who directed the original "Little Shop of Horrors" and propelled it to genuine cult-classic status, will remain involved in a producing capacity.
Check out all the details below.
Little Shop of Horrors gets a new lease on life
When Roger Corman brought on a young and virtually unknown Jack Nicholson to co-star in a low-budget farce about killer plants with a taste for human blood, neither could've imagined just how far this little production would ultimately end up taking them. The genre movie eventually gave way to an off-Broadway musical that, in turn, led to the 1986 adaptation directed by Frank Oz and composed by the great Alan Menken. Now, over 60 years after the original and almost four decades after the most recent film in the franchise, we're once again getting a new installment of "The Little Shop of Horrors" for a whole new generation of horror fans.
The ability to pull off a genuine farce might have become something of a lost art these days (although it's worth mentioning that even the previous movie pulled its punches in order to appeal to a larger audience), but that's probably why original creator Roger Corman is putting his name on this newest effort, along with proven horror veterans like Joe Dante and Charles S. Haas. The latter is probably the most surprising addition to this new take on "The Little Shop of Horrors," considering he hasn't had a writing credit in about 30 years.
No release date has been announced for this new "The Little Shop of Horrors" remake, but stay tuned to /Film for more details as they come in.