The Hollywood Reporter exclusively revealed today that Amblin Partners is planning a remake for the 1990 horror-comedy Arachnophobia and that Christopher Landon, the director behind Happy Death Day, has been tapped to write and direct the new film.
The original Arachnophobia was directed by Amblin Entertainment co-founder Frank Marshall in his directorial debut from a script by Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick based on a story by Jakoby and Al Williams. It followed the story of a family who moves out of the city in search of the idyllic small-town life. However, they soon find the town is being terrorized by deadly South American spiders. It starred Jeff Daniels, John Goodman, Julian Sands, and Harley Jane Kozak. It is unknown at this time how much of the plot of the original Landon intends to preserve for the remake.
Landon seems like a natural pick to helm this remake as his roots are firmly planted in both the horror and horror-comedy worlds. In the world of horror, Landon has written five of the seven installments of the Paranormal Activity franchise. He also directed the fifth film in the series Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Landon’s past work in horror-comedy includes him directing Happy Death Day and writing and directing its sequel, Happy Death Day 2U. He also directed and co-wrote Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse. Additionally, Landon has a new film called We Have A Ghost starring Anthony Mackie, David Harbour, Tig Notaro, and Jennifer Coolidge expected to premiere on Netflix later this year.
This Arachnophobia remake will see Amblin teaming up with the iconic horror director James Wan (The Conjuring) and his production banner Atomic Monster to produce. Wan will produce the remake with his producing partner Michael Clear. The film will also see Marshall serving as a producer after directing the original. Marshall is a co-founder of Amblin Entertainment, who has served as a producer on a number of films under the Amblin banner like the Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones franchises, and he has been nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Picture. Jeb Brody, the president of production for Amblin, will be overseeing the film with executive VP Lauren Abrahams and senior VP Mia Maniscalco.
Currently, no casting or expected production start has been announced for the film. Stay tuned to Collider for any future updates on Arachnophobia.