Prime Video is reportedly interested in rebooting Poltergeist. Steven Spielberg produced the 1982 supernatural horror movie Poltergeist, and famously may have directed a lot of it, though the film’s direction was officially credited to Tobe Hooper. An iconic ghost story, Poltergeist spawned a pair of sequels and, later, a TV series as well as a poorly-received movie reboot.
Now it seems the dormant Poltergeist franchise has a chance at coming back from the dead, as Amazon is reportedly interested in reviving the title. As reported by entertainment insider Jeff Sneider in an appearance on the Hot Mic podcast (via Bloody Disgusting), Amazon has been sifting through the IP they acquired as part of their big MGM purchase, and have earmarked Poltergeist as a priority title. However, one complication discussed by Sneider is the aforementioned Spielberg, who might need to be involved if Amazon is to revive Poltergeist.
Poltergeist Seems Like Old News In A Post-Conjuring World
An iconic movie in its day, Poltergeist now feels like old news thanks to 21st Century horror franchises like Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring. Poltergeist indeed previously tried competing directly with franchises like those when it was rebooted back in 2015. But though the reboot did do decent business, scaring up $95 million at the box office, it did not relaunch Poltergeist as a franchise.
When it comes to critical response to that 2015 reboot, the big complaint was that the film simply repeated the formula of the original Poltergeist while adding nothing new to the mix. It also didn’t help that, by the time the reboot was released, the world was glutted with supernatural movies like The Conjuring, Insidious and Paranormal Activity – all films inspired to some degree by Poltergeist. So the reboot really felt like old news in multiple ways. Insidious in particular largely remade Poltergeist, and caught on with audiences in a bigger way than the proper Poltergeist reboot.
The issue for Amazon of course is that it paid a lot of money to acquire the MGM catalog, and they now wish to get a return on that investment. Poltergeist may not be an IP that has huge value in a world filled with other, more up-to-date supernatural franchises, but it is at least a movie people are familiar with and have nostalgic feelings for. It makes sense then that Amazon would single out Poltergeist as a title that warrants further investigation.
Source: The Hot Mic (via Bloody Disgusting)
