Screen Gems is developing a new take on ’90s slasher Urban Legend, and THR reports that Shanrah Wakefield (Killer in Red) will write the script with Gary Dauberman (Until Dawn) producing. Neal Moritz is also in talks to produce, with the reboot in early development. THR details, “While plot details are unknown, sources say the story […]
Screen Gems is developing a new take on ’90s slasher Urban Legend, and THR reports that Shanrah Wakefield (Killer in Red) will write the script with Gary Dauberman (Until Dawn) producing. Neal Moritz is also in talks to produce, with the reboot in early development.
THR details, “While plot details are unknown, sources say the story aims to be an examination of what an urban legend looks like in a post-digital world.”
In the Jamie Blanks-directed 1998 slasher starring Jared Leto, Alicia Witt, and Rebecca Gayheart, a college student suspects a series of bizarre deaths are connected to urban legends.
The original slasher was followed by two sequels, Urban Legends: Final Cut, released theatrically in 2000, and the direct-to-video film Urban Legends: Bloody Mary in 2005.
The original Urban Legend was written by the late Silvio Horta.
Paul Lê wrote here on Bloody Disgusting back in 2021, “Jamie Blanks’ debut is hardly the first horror movie to draw inspiration from urban legends. The 1983 portmanteau-film Nightmares yields a rather faithful adaptation of “The Killer in the Backseat”, whereas another anthology, 1997’s Campfire Tales, borrows from three other different legends. And of course the basic plots of When a Stranger Calls and Black Christmas are based on “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs”. Yet unlike the aforesaid films, this movie is forthcoming about the influences and completely embraces these outlandish yarns for all they are.”
Paul continued, “Urban Legend is accused of being too imitative of Scream; there is no doubt Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s movie made its existence possible in the first place. However, Silvio Horta‘s subversion of the film’s entire motif is something that goes unnoticed.”
With Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer returning to life and a fresh take on Urban Legends on the horizon, it seems safe to say that the ’90s slasher is officially back!
