Is Sam Raimi Directing the ‘Poltergeist’ Remake?

Sam Raimi has been producing a remake of Poltergeist for MGM, a film that just the other day brought on a writer in David Lindsay-Abaire, the award-winning playwright who has been carving out several projects in Hollywood and has a good relationship with the Spider-Man and Evil Dead director. Those are two interesting names, but Linsday-Abaire has possibly revealed a new detail that if it's true or not a misquote, makes things more interesting.

At New York Comic-Con promoting Rise of the Guardians, which he helped write for DreamWorks, Lindsay-Abaire told The Hollywood Reporter (who paraphrased) that Raimi would be directing the film despite all previous language around the film carefully referring to him as producer.



THR's Scott Feinberg wrote the following and confirmed to HitFix via Twitter that this is indeed what he heard from Lindsay-Abaire:

He's penning the remake of Poltergeist, to be directed by Sam Raimi.

We've likely got a confirmation or a denial coming very soon, but if it's a confirmation, it makes Poltergeist a project to watch. Amidst the high volume of horror remakes, high-profile directors taking charge is a rarity, especially for horror projects that worked the first time around. The 1982 original directed by Tobe Hooper with heavy supervision from Steven Spielberg is the grandfather of today's Paranormal Activity craze.