THEM! Remake

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THEM! Remake

Post by DynomikeGojira »

https://deadline.com/2023/01/michael-gi ... 235211743/
It's official Werewolf By Night director and famed composer Michael Gianchino is directing his feature film debut with a remake of THEM! from WB.

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LSD Jellyfish
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Re: THEM! Remake

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Cool...I think?

The director doesn't have enough of a backlog to make me excited for anything specific. THEM! is one of the greatest monster movies of all time, and while the original can still be viewed today, I certainly don't have an issue with them remaking it in a more contemporary setting. In contrast to a lot of other films, a remake makes a bit more sense.

I guess no connection to the MV, which is a mild shame, I recall a few people wishing that a few years back, and it does seem like a missed oppurtunity. Maybe it'll also be better off for it.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: THEM! Remake

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Giacchino's directorial filmography is small, but Werewolf by Night and Monster Challenge were both fun so I'm on board.

But uh...wow! That came out of nowhere, huh?
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Re: THEM! Remake

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I love Them! I just wish this was connected to the Monsterverse, I guess WB isn't confident enough in the Monsterverse continuing after the next Godzilla and Kong to connect it?

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Re: THEM! Remake

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Anguirus wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 6:30 pm I love Them! I just wish this was connected to the Monsterverse, I guess WB isn't confident enough in the Monsterverse continuing after the next Godzilla and Kong to connect it?
There appears to be a lot of inner drama regarding WB, Discovery, and Legendary, due in part to some major restructuring and business decisions. It's probably why the Godzilla TV series is going to Apple+ or whatever, but it seems like THEM! somehow being connected to the MV at this point is unlikely. I do wonder on the timing on this announcement; seems like this could've been in discussion for a few years, but after the MV divorce maybe they just decided to pull the trigger anyways?

I'm curious to know more:
-Will it take place in the 50's like the original? Will it take place in the same general setting?
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: THEM! Remake

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Oh, sick! Honestly, giant ants are such a great and terrifying monster concept that I'm surprised it took so long for Hollywood to get on this. I'm betting it was inspired by the Ant Man movies. Disney/Marvel (naturally and appropriately) sidelines the ants a bit, focusing on their utility as pets/beasts of burden/tools or just playing them for cuteness or laughs, while keeping our hero at center stage. Hopefully WB was looking at the Ant Man ants and thinking, "okay, what if we have these human sized ants that can have all these crazy abilities... and they're trying to fucking eat people?"

The potential for spectacle and horror are off the charts, here. This is probably the classic American monster movie that has the most potential to benefit from modern effects technology.
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Re: THEM! Remake

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JAGzilla wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 9:44 pm This is probably the classic American monster movie that has the most potential to benefit from modern effects technology.
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Re: THEM! Remake

Post by LSD Jellyfish »

If anyone here has played Elden Ring long enough; do you recall the underground areas with tons and tons of horrible monsotorous ants, and findings piles and piles of dead bodies and gross-out gore? I'd like something like that.

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Giant+Ant

Not saying this needs to be a total gore-fest, but something like that would be really unnerving. There's something about about subterranean cavernous creatures collecting and devouring humans that is absolutely nightmarish, and unique. It gives reason to why we can't instantly find the monster(s) either, or can use conventional weapons on them: they're hiding deep underground!

Also, this announcement makes me want to watch the original again, so that makes me very happy!
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: THEM! Remake

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LSD Jellyfish wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 10:06 pm If anyone here has played Elden Ring long enough; do you recall the underground areas with tons and tons of horrible monsotorous ants, and findings piles and piles of dead bodies and gross-out gore? I'd like something like that.

https://eldenring.wiki.fextralife.com/Giant+Ant

Not saying this needs to be a total gore-fest, but something like that would be really unnerving. There's something about about subterranean cavernous creatures collecting and devouring humans that is absolutely nightmarish, and unique. It gives reason to why we can't instantly find the monster(s) either, or can use conventional weapons on them: they're hiding deep underground!

Also, this announcement makes me want to watch the original again, so that makes me very happy!


Oh, those look nice! I'd like to see something like this courtesy of DinoHunter2. https://www.deviantart.com/dinohunter2

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Re: THEM! Remake

Post by Dyrakro »

Not gonna lie a Them! remake going into the direction of gore/comedy would be a nice one. If they even make use of different species of ants it could turn into a fun little monster flick.

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Re: THEM! Remake

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I've seen animal shows that feature ants in action, and ants are scary when they attack. A larger spider stood no chance against a group of them. Giant ones killing people would be an even scarier prospect, especially when you have to face an army of them. THEM is also a favorite of mine, and I'd take a look this remake.
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Re: THEM! Remake

Post by HedorahIsBestGirl »

Them! scared the shit out of me as a little kid, far more than any other monster movie that I can recall. Needless to say, I loved it. I think my father first showed it to me around the same time as "Godzilla, King of the Monsters" and "Creature From the Black Lagoon." I'm simultaneously excited and nervous for this remake. If done well, it could help reignite Hollywood's interest in creature features, which I'm all for.

I'm going to go against what some others have said above and say that two things I very much don't want out of this remake are A) gore and B) comedy. I want Them! to stay scary. The original Them! did a great job of building tension without the need for graphic violence and I hope this remake follows suit. To be clear, I don't want it to be totally bloodless, but I hope it keeps the violence in the PG-13 range instead of going for hard-R gore. I also want it to take itself seriously. Hollywood movies have become way too hokey-jokey for my taste in the past decade. To use a MonsterVerse analogy, I hope this Them! remake is more Godzilla '14 and less KOTM.
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Re: THEM! Remake

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HedorahIsBestGirl wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 3:22 pm I'm going to go against what some others have said above and say that two things I very much don't want out of this remake are A) gore and B) comedy. I want Them! to stay scary. The original Them! did a great job of building tension without the need for graphic violence and I hope this remake follows suit. To be clear, I don't want it to be totally bloodless, but I hope it keeps the violence in the PG-13 range instead of going for hard-R gore. I also want it to take itself seriously. Hollywood movies have become way too hokey-jokey for my taste in the past decade. To use a MonsterVerse analogy, I hope this Them! remake is more Godzilla '14 and less KOTM.
A): Actually, I've turned around on this, and agree we don't need gore, but I think we need something gross, or really disturbing to be implied. The original doesn't have gore, but there's that iconic shot of one of the ants with a ribcage (?) in there, that implies a lot and gets the message across pretty effectively.

B)Agreed about less/no comedy. There's been plenty of schlocky modern comedy homages to b-movies, and I feel like we can just bring the genre back in full force without being embarrased or overly self-aware about it. Tremors actually works well if people want something fun in the desert with people getting eaten and dissapearing.

I like your MV analogy too.

One reason why I think this is an excellent film to remake, is just how many ants we can have. One of the few issues of the original, is they never really show how many ants could exist, due to technical and practical limitations. I think the Ant puppets were pretty alright for the time, effectively menacing and gigantic, but we never see thousands of ants on screen at once. Going back to the gross out factor, ants swarming something really makes me uncomfortable, so thousands of them on screen, even if briefly, would really unnerve me.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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Re: THEM! Remake

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Oh my goodness, I hope this doesn't become a comedy lite film. Hollywood has added unneeded humor in most of their films.

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Re: THEM! Remake

Post by Angilasman »

The original is one of my favorites, but I'm totally up for a remake. It's such a classic monster movie story at its core, and that's not something we see a lot of.

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Re: THEM! Remake

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The obvious solution to a swarm of giant ants is to bomb them from the air. So the logical solution to an air strike is to give the ants wings. I'd love a scene where a fighter squadron goes in to massacre the ants, expecting a cakewalk, and then thousands of winged male ants come pouring up out the nest, totally filling the IMAX screen with buzzing chaos and annihilating the jets. That's the next best thing to seeing Marc Cerasini's A-10s vs. Kamacuras scene finally brought to life.
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Re: THEM! Remake

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Anguirus wrote: Wed Jan 04, 2023 6:30 pm I love Them! I just wish this was connected to the Monsterverse, I guess WB isn't confident enough in the Monsterverse continuing after the next Godzilla and Kong to connect it?
No? Just because they aren’t connecting a remake to an obscure 50s movie about giant ants to the Monsterverse doesn’t mean they lack confidence in it.

Legendary isn’t even attached to this project
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Re: THEM! Remake

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JAGzilla wrote: Thu Jan 05, 2023 7:38 pm The obvious solution to a swarm of giant ants is to bomb them from the air. So the logical solution to an air strike is to give the ants wings. I'd love a scene where a fighter squadron goes in to massacre the ants, expecting a cakewalk, and then thousands of winged male ants come pouring up out the nest, totally filling the IMAX screen with buzzing chaos and annihilating the jets. That's the next best thing to seeing Marc Cerasini's A-10s vs. Kamacuras scene finally brought to life.
Not only winged males, but also winged virgin queens both before and after both sexes fly off to mate. They could destroy the jets during the mating flight.
Last edited by mikelcho on Sat Jan 07, 2023 8:39 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: THEM! Remake

Post by edgaguirus »

Swarming ants would be a great visual. Another one would be the ant trail; Two hundred ants marching in a line that seems to go on forever, and our characters realizing how screwed humanity could be.
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Re: THEM! Remake

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Handsome Shrek wrote: Fri Jan 06, 2023 11:33 am Just because they aren’t connecting a remake to an obscure 50s movie about giant ants to the Monsterverse doesn’t mean they lack confidence in it.
Huh, you’d consider THEM! obscure?
Other than Godzilla or Kong, I see it typically held in high-regard amongst monster flicks. People typically consider it the best film of that era and a classic.

A lot of movies over the years have parodied and referenced it at well.

Then again, we’re in a bubble on here, but I don’t think it’s obscure at all.
Spirit Ghidorah 2010 wrote: Sun Dec 03, 2023 4:54 pm Anno-san pleasures me more than Yamasaki-san.

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