You’ve probably read that a new Ju-On: The Grudge movie is coming to Japanese cinemas in June this year, but did you know that a new Western reboot of 2004’s The Grudge is also currently in the works?
Movie website Deadline reports that Sam Raimi, the director of The Evil Dead (or is that Captain Supermarket?) horror series as well as the Spider-Man trilogy starring Toby Maguire, will be at the helm of the new horror flick.
Starring Buffy Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Grudge was directed by Takeshi Shimizu and based on his 2000 film Ju-On, the latter going on to spawn a number of sequels including the this summer’s The Grudge: Beginning of the End. Shimizu will not, however, be involved in the upcoming Western reboot.
In the 2004 US movie, Gellar plays an exchange student who, during her time in Tokyo, takes a job as a caregiver. She quickly discovers that the home in which her patient resides is cursed and haunted by violent and evil spirits, and, instead of immediately running a mile like any sane individual, resolves to uncover the cause of their anger and help the family residing in the house.
The film received mixed reviews, but nevertheless went on to become a financial success, netting almost US$200 million worldwide. Whether Sam Raimi can repeat that success with his own reboot now that low-budget horror flicks are far more commonplace, however, remains to be seen.
We’ll leave you with the trailer for the 2004 movie. It may not be quite as creepy as Shimizu’s Japanese original, but it’s still pretty nasty.
Source: Deadline via Anime News Network