Poltergeist to Go Up Against Fifty Shades of Grey

After a lot of hype, hoopla and false starts, the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey has of course finally nailed down a cast, and it’s headed to theaters Valentines Day Weekend 2015. So is Poltergeist apparently.

Even though it seems like the horror remake conveyor belt has slowed down a bit, a remake of Poltergeist is indeed in the works, and it will apparently go head to head with the long awaited adaption of the mega-selling erotic novel. If you’re more in a family way, Spongebob Squarepants 2 will also come out on Valentine’s weekend as well. 

While some movies are so huge you wouldn’t go anywhere near them, but a lot of studios like to do “counter programming,” where you release a movie that a whole other audience would enjoy. There’s certain to be a major portion of the movie going audience that won’t have any interest in seeing Fifty Shades of Grey (read: Men), and Poltergeist could indeed make good counterprogramming. Sam Raimi is producing the remake of the Tobe Hooper / Steven Spielberg classic, which will star Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt and Jared Harris.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Poltergeist, and although I liked it back in the mythical moviegoing summer of 1982, I have no idea if it still holds up or not. Of course I’m skeptical about this remake, but Evil Dead apparently proved some skeptics wrong, and maybe a new Poltergeist will as well.