Lars and the Real Spook: Craig Gillespie likely to direct 'Fright Night' remake

EXCLUSIVE: "Fright Night" has been a high-priority horror remake both for fans and studio DreamWorks since the studio began developing the project. Now DreamWorks appears to have found its man to direct it.

A sweepstakes that included at least three directors appears to be coming to a close, with Craig Gillespie the man who will likely sit behind the camera.  Sources say that after the studio met with and contemplated a number of directors, the parties on Friday began entering negotiations for Gillespie to take the reins.

The director is most famous for the 2007 off-kilter romantic comedy "Lars and the Real Girl (which was eerie in a whole different way). He also directed the wacky dysfunctional-family/romantic comedy "Mr. Woodcock" starring Billy Bob Thornton. Gillespie also has a relationship with DreamWorks principal Steven Spielberg via "The United States of Tara," the Showtime series that DreamWorks Television produced and on which Gillespie has served as director and producer.

Marti Noxon, a veteran of shows like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," has been writing the screenplay for "Fright Night," and producing powerhouse Michael De Luca is among the producers on the new film, along with Alison Rosenzweig. (Incidentally, Tom Holland, a journeyman horror writer and director, directed the first movie, which starred Chris Sarandon and Amanda Bearse.)

For the uninitiated, "Fright Night" was a sleeper hit back in 1985, employing comedy and a kind of meta-horror aspect (lead character is a fan of horror films, then gets caught up in one himself) that predated the "Scream" phenomenon by a full decade.  The reboot from DreamWorks fits in with other horror remakes, like last year's "Friday the 13th" and the upcoming "Nightmare on Elm Street."

The central premise also rests on another idea currently in vogue at practically every studio around town: The main character discovers his neighbors are vampires. "Twilight," your influence is wide and deep.

-- Steven Zeitchik

Photo: Fright Night. Credit: Columbia Pictures.

Comments

[Ricardo Serrano]

Twilight's influence is deep and wide? Fright Night was here way before Twilight. If anything it's the other way around. Actually, that's besides the fact that Dreamworks is remaking of one of the greatest vampire movies ever conceived . This things shouldn't be done. What is it? Have movie makers lost their creativity or they just looking for an easy way out?

The only thing that kinda saves this project is that "Lars and the Real Girl" director, Craig Gillespie, is quite probably going to helm said film. Still, why not make an entirely new vampire movie and take a chance with audiences? Just look at "Let the Right One In" and you'll see what I mean. Hollywood has long been in a milking process and quite frankly it will sooner rather than later run out of milk.

PS: Twilight has been receiving way too much space and consideration in vampire movie discussions. Remember this, if Twilight would've bombed at the Box Office no one would even consider it for any kind of future vampire movie discussions or articles. Let this pathetic trend die and move on to way much better things.

[Valmo]

Twilight sucks. The only reason it made money is young girls are stupid and will watch anything. Fright Night may have been cheesy, but most 80's films were. Twilight is just crap.

[jd]

Hollywood is the worst. Everything is a remake because they are too chicken sht to gamble on anything original. Even "Avatar", which I hated btw, was nothing more than a remake of "Dances With Wolves." I'll stick with the originals because 99.9% of these remakes suck.

[Jake]

What's the point in a remake of this film?

Anyways even if and when it happens there's no way in hell it will have a cooler poster than the one above.