It looks like the Poltergeist horror film franchise is getting ready to make another comeback with a brand-new reboot. It’s worth mentioning that MGM owned the rights to the classic property, and when the studio was acquired by Amazon, the rights were thus transferred to them.
Now, as noted via Jeff Sneider on The Hot Mic, it looks like Amazon is reportedly developing a Poltergeist reboot. Of course, this makes sense, given that it’s one of MGM’s biggest titles. Amazon would no doubt want to take advantage of such a lucrative brand. And, as Sneider puts it, it’s one of the MGM brands that Amazon outright hopes to “prioritize.”
He also noted, however, that the situation is “complicated.” It appears that this is because of the original film’s producer just so happens to be Steven Spielberg.
“Spielberg would likely need to be involved,” Sneider adds.
He also stated:
“All this stuff is so up in the air,” he continues. “[Amazon is] still figuring out, ‘What do we have here in MGM, what do we want to do with it, and how do we want to do it?”
As such, Poltergeist appears to be only one of many MGM properties that Amazon wants to work with. Though we’ve heard rumblings in the past that a Poltergeist reboot was being actively looked at. Now it seems like we could be seeing more momentum on that front as Amazon begins utilizing their newly-acquired rights from MGM.
The original Poltergeist, directed by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre filmmaker Tobe Hooper, was released in 1982. It was followed with two sequels that were met with mixed reactions from fans. Then, following a narratively unrelated television series titled Poltergeist: The Legacy, the series received its first remake in 2015 – that was simply titled Poltergeist. This project was much more negatively received – so it’ll be interesting to see how Amazon rectifies the situation.
Fans can stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates regarding Amazon’s Poltergeist reboot as we have them. Hopefully this project ends up being one that fans can enjoy.