It was announced some time ago that Amblin Entertainment were working with producer James Wan on a remake of Arachnophobia. Now, excitingly, it’s just been revealed that Happy Death Day filmmaker Christopher Landon has been tapped to write and direct the new Arachnophobia film.
This news comes via THR, where they also noted that the original film’s director will be attached as an executive producer for this remake. Meanwhile, James Wan will be joined by his Atomic Monster partner Michael Clear to produce the film with Amblin.
As revealed:
“Landon, the writer-director behind horror hits Happy Death Dayand Freaky, has been tapped to write and direct Amblin Partner’s remake of Arachnophobia.”
Obviously, this is an exciting announcement for fans of the 1990 horror comedy film Arachnophobia. While there are quite a few horror films that deal with killer spiders, the aforementioned 1990 film happens to be one of the most popular. Especially for the video store generations that wandered through aisles in search of captivating VHS covers. Of course, with so many decades having passed, it seems fitting that a filmmaker like Christopher Landon is given the opportunity to reinvent the cult classic flick.
His previous films, such as Happy Death Day, its sequel, and the 2020 film Freaky, have all balanced horror and comedy in very interesting ways. While they’ve all mostly used the slasher genre as a basis, however, it’s worth noting that Christopher Landon also wrote several Paranormal Activity films and even wrote and directed Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. So it’s clear that he has a vast understanding of the genre. As such, seeing his style applied to a movie about killer arachnids should be a fun change of pace and yet perfect for his quirky sensibilities.
Fans can stay tuned to ScreenGeek for more updates on this upcoming film as we have them.