Over the past several years, it seems like they’ve remade almost every ’70s and ’80s horror classic. Probably some you’re not even aware of. (Someone remade John Carpenter’s The Fog, for reasons). Yet one cult horror film from that era has remained untouched by the remake craze, until now. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 1981’s Possession is getting the remake treatment soon, as Smile filmmaker Parker Finn and Robert Pattinson are joining forces to remake the supernatural thriller. Polish filmmaker Andrzej Zulawski wrote and directed the original. Pattinson is on board as producer, and may also star in the film.
The original film wasn’t your typical ’80s horror movie. It wasn’t even a financial success in its day, only achieving cult hit status over time, thanks to home video. Possession took place in West Berlin, and featured future Jurassic Park star Sam Neill as a spy who returns home to his wife and son. This meditation of martial drama eventually spirals out, and before you know it, there are strange doppelgangers and a tentacled alien. So, not exactly Friday the 13th. The U.K. banned Possession, and an American release cut out a third of it to be less bizarre. We must say however, it does sound exactly like the kind of weird stuff producer Robert Pattinson would totally be into.
Parker Finn is riding high after his directorial debut Smile became the biggest horror hit of 2022. That film cost $17 million to produce, and made $217 million at the box office. It was originally intended for Paramount+. Yet wiser heads prevailed after positive tests screenings, and Smile made quite a return on investment for the studio. And now Finn is making the sequel. So it seems Finn is using his Smile clout to do his version of the relatively obscure cult film. It remains to be seen if the final film could possibly live up to the strangeness of the original, which was made in a completely different climate for horror films.
