With a new “I Know What You Did Last Summer” hitting theaters in July, it only makes sense for another ’90s slasher series to get rebooted right? THR reports that’s the case with “Urban Legend,” which Screen Gems will resurrect for a new installment.
READ MORE: ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Trailer: Legacy Slasher Returns On July 18
Sony‘s genre banner has already assembled a team to develop the slasher reboot. Shanrah Wakefield writes the script and “Until Dawn” scribe Gary Dauberman on board as a producer via Coin Operated. Neal Moritz, who co-produced the 1998 original, is in talks to return to produce, too. As for a director? That’s still to be determined.
Made after the success of “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” the original “Urban Legend” was a box office hit but not necessarily on par with other slashers of the era. Set at a fictional New England college, Jamie Blanks‘ film followed a group of students terrorized by a hooded killer inspired by various urban legends. The movie’s an ensemble cast is its strength: a who’s who up ’90s rising stars, including Jared Leto, Tara Reid, Joshua Jackson, Alicia Witt, Rebecca Gayheart, and Michael Rosenbaum. The 1998 film spawned two sequels: 2000’s “Urban Legends: Final Cut” (an early Scott Derrickson project) and 2005’s direct-to-video “Urban Legends: Bloody Mary.”
So what will the new “Urban Legends” tackle? Screen Gems won’t disclose plot details, but THR notes that sources say it will examine urban legends in post-digital culture. That sounds eerily similar to Daniel Goldhaber‘s on-hold “Faces Of Death” remake, but who’s the say? It’s at least good or the film that Dauberman is in the mix. The screenwriter has been a hit-maker for close to a decade now, being a creative factor on “It,” “Annabelle,” and “The Nun.” “Until Dawn,” a videogame adaptation that Dauberman co-writes, hits theaters this weekend.
Expect “Urban Legend” in theaters sometime next year. And what’s the next ’90s slasher to get the reboot treatment? Maybe “Cherry Falls“?
