The Grudgereboot has locked down a 2019 summer release date. Sony is currently hoping to get in on the good days that horror has been enjoying at the box office in recent years byrevisiting something that has done wellfor them in the past. They’re currently getting the pieces in place so their reboot ofThe Grudgecan get underway. It’s apparently going well, as the studio has locked down an August release date for next year, putting it at the tail end of the summer movie season.
Sony will releaseThe Grudgeon August 16 of next year. Currently, the only other major release coming that day is from Universal in the form of an untitled event movie. It’s possible that whatever this event movie is, or was going to be, Universal may end up moving it since it hasn’t been announced yet. Or, since event implies some sort of blockbuster affair,The Grudge, as a very mainstream horror flick, could wind up being a good bit of counter-programming. And August can be very fertile ground at the box office for the right movie.
Nicolas Pesce, who wasput on Hollywood’s radarwith his small but notable 2016 horror movieThe Eyes of My Mother, has been tapped to direct the reboot ofThe Grudge. So far, Andrea Riseborough (Oblivion), Demian Bichir (Alien: Covenant), John Cho (Star Trek Beyond) and Lin Shaye (Insidious: The Last Key) haveboarded the cast. The production team for the movie includes Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, who will produce for Ghost House, with Nathan Kahane and Erin Westerman executive producing for Good Universe. Schuyler Weiss, Roy Lee, Doug Davison, John Middleton, and Andrew Pfeffer are also on board as producers.
Takashi Shimizu wrote and directed the original 2002 Japanese version,Ju-On: The Grudge, which was remade by Sony in 2004. Shimizu also directed that version, which went on to find great success at the box office, earning $187.2 million worldwide. Shimizu also returned to helm the sequel,The Grudge 2, which wasn’t quite as successful as its predecessor, but still did well. At that time, American remakes ofJapanese horror movieswere something of a trend, withThe GrudgeandThe Ringbeing two of the most successful examples. Let’s just hope that this does better thanRingsmanaged to do.
The first American remake stilltook place in Japan. This is said to be more of a “reimagining” ofThe Grudgeand will take place in America. Beyond that, is it going to really be any different? Or are they mostly going to retread the same ground as the first remake, but in a new setting? That remains to be seen, but hopefully once production gets underway we’ll get some more official details from the studio. Filming is expected to start in May, which will give them more than enough time to get this done before the August release date next year. This news comes to us courtesy ofDeadline.
