David Bruckner – who previously remade Hellraiser – is to write and direct a new take on The Blob for Warner Bros.
Over 60 years after a bunch of devout Christians changed cinema history by making The Blob, there’s a new take on the oozing sci-fi horror classic in the works at Warner Bros.
As first reported by The Wrap, the remake will be written and directed by David Bruckner, who previously made the 2022 remake of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser and, among other things, The Night House (2020) and The Ritual (2017).
Like Hellraiser and The Night House, the new Blob will be produced by David S Goyer and Keith Levine via their company, Phantom Four Productions. The Wrap also reports that Judith Harris – widow of Jack H Harris, the film distributor who brought the 1958 and 1988 versions of the movie to the screen – will be credited as executive producer.
The original Blob was directed by Methodist minister-turned filmmaker Irvin Yeaworth, whose previous work largely comprised religious and educational films. The concept came from the aforementioned Harris, who after seeing 1951’s The Thing From Another World felt inspired to make a monster movie where the creature was something other than an actor in a suit. Harris also insisted on casting the 20-something actor Steve McQueen in the role of the film’s rebellious teen protagonist. We wonder what happened to him?
The Blob was an unexpectedly huge hit, and its gelatinous imprint was such that it got remakes in 1972 (the dreadful Beware! The Blob, directed by Larry Hagman, of all people) and 1988 (The Blob, directed by Chuck Russell and co-written by Frank Darabont, which is excellent).
A third remake was in the works around 2015, with Con Air director Simon West describing its quivering monster as “more sophisticated, along the lines of Alien and Predator.” It was reported at the time that Samuel L Jackson would be cast as a scientist combating the creature, but the film never emerged.
Exactly how Bruckner will handle his new Blob hasn’t been divulged, but given the advance in special effects since those earlier films, it’s unlikely that the human-eating creature of the title will be brought to life with, say, silicone and vegetable dye. Then again, we’d be surprised if anyone can top the quite spectacular scene involving Candy Clarke and a phone booth in the 1988 movie.
More Blob news as it comes in.
