Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures and Good Universe have gotten their hands on Nicolas Pesce to direct the "The Grudge" reboot.
According to Deadline, Pesce will not only direct the horror flick but also rewrite the script. It was written by Jeff Buhler, who also wrote the cult classic "The Midnight Meat Train."
Pesce is known for directing the black-and-white low-budget horror film "The Eyes of My Mother." This received largely positive reviews from critics when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016.
Renowned director Sam Raimi who has helmed successful hits such as the original "Spider-Man" trilogy, the "Evil Dead" franchise and "Drag Me to Hell" will produce "The Grudge" reboot along with Rob Tapert, Taka Ichise, Doug Davison, Roy Lee and Joe Drake. It will be executive produced by Nathan Kahane and overseen by Erin Westerman and Romel Adam for Ghost House.
"The Grudge" (2004), which starred "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" actress Sarah Michelle Gellar, was based on Takashi Shimizu's Japanese film "Ju-on: The Grudge" released back in 2002. Gellar's film went on to make over $187 million worldwide on a $10 million budget. The box-office success spawned the sequel "The Grudge 2" in 2006, then later with "The Grudge 3" in 2009.
In the first movie, the "Grudge" is the rage that formed into an entity when a professor (Bill Pullman) brutally murdered his Japanese student Kayako (Takako Fuji) because of jealousy. That powerful rage from Kayako became the curse that would torment anyone who would come into contact with it. One unfortunate person was Gellar, who played the nurse that encountered the "Grudge" entity.
Fans will be interested to see how much the reboot will mirror the first movie in terms of plot and style.
With "The Grudge" reboot still in the early writing stages, expect more reports to come from Ghost House in terms of casting and release date.
