You’d think that a film as high profile as Gil Kenan’s Poltergeist remake would have been making some noise by now, especially with its release only 6 months away. No posters, no stills, no nothing. Nadda! In fact, the last time we talked about the Poltergeist remake was back in October when it was announced that the film would have a PG-13 rating. That brings us to today’s awesome (but not really) news. Sam Rockwell, who stars in the film, recently had a chat with Collider about the film and what he had to say wont be instilling much confidence in horror fans, that’s for sure.
After being asked if he had seen any footage from the film, his response was: “I’ve seen a little in looping. I hope it’s good. I really don’t know. I really wish I could tell you. I’m praying that it’s – I mean, it’s gonna be hard to live up to the first one. The first one’s pretty damn good. This one’s gonna be in 3D though, I can tell you that.” Is it just me or is that the most unconfident answer ever? It get’s better, though.
He went on to dish out a few more details on the film’s protagonist, a 10-year-old boy, where he dropped this sweet little gem: “The 10-year-old boy is really the protagonist this time. JoBeth Williams was the protagonist for the most part in the first one and now the kid, it’s really through his point-of-view. So it’s more of a kids’ movie so I don’t know if it’s gonna be like rated-R scary.” A kids’ movie? What is that even supposed to mean? Is he actually saying that the Poltergeist remake is geared towards children? Like I said, he isn’t exactly making this easy on us.
Better yet, Rockwell says not to expect a scary film in the same way that The Conjuring is scary. “It’s not like Conjuring type of scary. You know, it’s a different kind of movie. It’s more of an adventure. It’s essentially a child abduction film when you come down to it. I mean, the original Poltergeist is too.” There he goes again! It’s more of an adventure? What are we supposed to make of that?
So, if we put that all together what we have is a PG-13, 3D adventure movie for kids. This can’t be real can it? Either Sam Rockwell is trolling the entire horror community, or this movie is going to be… something.
Look for this one in theaters on July 24, 2015. Maybe we’ll see a poster or something before then. Who knows.
themissingreel.com 
I vote for trolling, but maybe that’s just a false hope on my part.
Yeah no kidding. Let’s hope that’s the case!
I’m “hoping” for the trolling, I know Rockwell has a sense of humor about his own work, maybe there’s a little of that going on here.
I am a big fan of Rockwell and was excited when I heard he was attached to this, but this is yet another remake that I feel is unnecessary.
I will see it, because it’s Poltergeist and because Sam Rockwell is in it, but honestly, this doesn’t make me feel like “I can’t wait!”
Bad promoting, Rockwell, shame on you! Haha!
Haha, right!? If he was trying to sell this movie, he did a really bad job. I’m with you, though, he’s one of my favorite actors and a major reason why I’ve been so optimistic about the film in the first place. At the end of the day, we still haven’t seen a single thing from the movie so who knows what to think at this point.
Maybe he was mocking the production’s secrecy or something. Because if he can do Charlie’s Angels press without trashing it, he can handle press for this 😛
Yes, this is very true. Let’s go with that!
Perhaps Mr. Rockwell is still upset over the fact that he didn’t have a last name in Galaxy Quest.
Lol, it could definitely be that!
Not sure what to make of this. It doesn’t sound too appealing. I really hope it’s not a kids movie.
Yeah, same here. Maybe it was just a poor choice of words on his part. Who knows. It’s not looking very good, though.
I’m hoping they’re not going to completely bastardize this project, but based on the info that Sam Rockwell is letting slip, I should probably put those hopes to bed. This sounds, as of right now, pretty awful.
I’ve always given this one the benefit of the doubt considering how great of a cast they’ve got going for it. The fact that they haven’t shown us anything and everything Rockwell has said isn’t giving me any hope is really disappointing, though.
Rockwell is a crazy character man. Even outside his roles. I would 100% believe he is saying these things to rile us all up. And then when the movie drops all our expectations are so low we end up coming out more impressed than. . . . . . well, something that’s extremely impressed.
Absolutely. His answers are so vague and confusing that it wouldn’t surprise me if he was just throwing random crap out there. Who knows, man. Fingers crossed!
I like Rockwell’s ambiguous answers. If I were working on a remake of a classic, I wouldn’t give anything away, either. I agree with previous commenters re: trolling. It’ll be interesting to see what comes of it.
Also, just wanted to say I’m really enjoying your blog. You have well-written pieces and you never seem to have contempt for your commenters, even when they may not agree with you.
Thanks, I really appreciate that! It means a lot.
As far as Rockwell, he’s a mystery. Who knows what he’s up to with this one. His answers just seem… off to me. I guess we’ll know soon enough!
For kids? Really? I get PG-13 but for kids? No.
A Poltergeist remake made for kids seems so wrong. I hope it’s all just a miscommunication.