After partnering with the studio for two acclaimed socially-driven horror films, Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us) is reuniting with Universal Pictures to produce a remake of Wes Craven’s 1991 cult classic The People Under the Stairs, according to Collider.
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Written and directed by Craven and released in November 1991, the original film centered on a young boy and two adult robbers who break into a house in a Los Angeles ghetto to steal a collection of rare coins but find themselves trapped inside by the strange couple who own the house and discover their horrifying secrets throughout. The cast for the original film included Brandon Adams (The Mighty Ducks), Everett McGill (Twin Peaks), Wendy Robie (Twin Peaks), A.J. Langer (Private Practice), Ving Rhames (Mission: Impossible — Fallout) and Bill Cobbs (Night at the Museum).
Click here to purchase Craven’s cult classic!
There’s currently no writer or director attached to the new version of Craven’s film, with Peele not expected to step into the director’s chair for the project but instead just produce alongside partner Win Rosenfeld via their Monkeypaw Productions banner. While he’s not expected to direct, it’s currently unknown whether he or Rosenfeld will contribute to the script in the same manner they did for their forthcoming Candyman reboot from co-writer/director Nia DaCosta (Captain Marvel 2).
The remake becomes the third attempt at bringing the property back to life in some capacity, as well as the first remake of a Craven film in five years after the MTV adaptation of Scream, with the late writer/director having expressed a desire to remake the film himself while also revealing shortly before his death that he was developing a series adaptation of the film for the SyFy channel, which was described as “a contemporary Downton Abbey meets Amityville Horror that would’ve followed a young woman who goes missing at the grand Robeson Family Manor and faces the centuries-old horrors that lie deep within the estate.”
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Though initially debuting to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, the film was a surprise box office hit and has since garnered positive attention from critics and audiences for its satirical exploration of gentrification, class warfare and capitalism.
(Photo Credit: Rebecca Sapp/Getty Images for SBIFF)
