'Poltergeist' Remake Could Move Forward With Pulitzer Prize-Winner

So, a rarity emerges: a proposed remake of a cult favorite that has some talent behind it with some real credibility, and seems like it might have some potential.

It the latest chapter of an ongoing quest to complete a remake of Steven Spielberg’s 1982 horror classic “Poltergeist,” the latest writer attached to pen the re-imagining is Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author David Lindsay-Abaire (“Oz: The Great and Powerful,” “Rabbit Hole”), says New York Magazine.

Lindsay-Abaire has confirmed that MGM has made him an offer, but he hasn’t made up his mind whether the project is really up his alley. Once upon a time, the studio enlisted Stiles White and Juliet Showden – the writing team behind “The Boogeyman” – in 2008 to come up with a script. However, with a Pulitzer Prize-winner in the mix, it could be assumed that the studio thankfully has something more intelligent in mind.

In the original, a family is terrorized by malevolent spirits who eventually get so bold as to kidnap the family’s youngest daughter, with whom they’ve been communicating through TV static. It was cheaply made, costing only $10 million dollars to make, but doubled its budget at the box office with a $25-million-plus gross.

Nor is it the only remake MGM has in line, now that it’s been freed from oppressive $4-billion debt. The studio also wants to revisit Brian DePalma’s 1976 Stephen King adaptation “Carrie” and Paul Verhoeven’s “RoboCop.”

There’s reason for optimism, though. New MGM captains Roger Birnbaum and Gary Barger – who are also heads of Spyglass Entertainment – were just a couple of the masterminds who co-financed Paramount Pictures’ hugely successful, J.J. Abrams-helmed “Star Trek” reboot.