The insanely-talented writer, director and producer Roxanne Benjamin has been tabbed to pen the reboot of Night of the Comet for Orion Pictures.
The original Night of the Comet (1984) tells the story of a comet that wipes out most of life on Earth, leaving just two Valley Girls fighting against cannibalistic zombies and a sinister group of scientists, looking to make every remaining person its own research subjects. It has a nice blend of horror and comedy and, if done right, will be a refreshing full-horror/sci-fi spin on the original.
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The original film, written and directed by Thom Eberhardt and starring Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart, had a budget of just under $1 million and actually went on to gross over $14 million.
Benjamin wrote Southbound and two shorts, The Birthday Party and Don’t Fall, for XX. She also served as producer on the awesome trilogy, V/H/S, V/H/S 2 and V/H/S: Viral. Moral of the story: She knows how to scare you, while keeping elements of comedy to ease the fear a bit.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see any of the above films, 1) Why? and 2) What are you waiting for? Southbound tells five interlocking stories of the fate of weary travelers as they confront their worst nightmares and darkest secrets, while driving down a desolate stretch of desert highway. XX is more of the same, as four short stories make up a feature film. What’s cool about this project is that all four shorts were written by women, also including Jovanka Vuckovic and Karyn Kusama. Lastly, the V/H/S series, which tells the story of videotapes, which reimagines horror on the screen, but also brings said horror to life in real time!
Beyond those projects, Benjamin also has one in post-production, which she wrote, directed and produced, called, Body at Brighton Rock, which follows a park ranger that spends the night at a potential crime scene on a remote mountain trail.
Orion Pictures was recently relaunched as a distributor studio by MGM, back in 2017, and is also set to helm upcoming projects like, The Prodigy, Gretel and Hansel and reboots of Child’s Play and Bill and Ted.
What do you think, are you sick of reboots or do you think this film deserves one? Should we leave the awesome 80s in its decade? Let us know in the comments section below.
