Can Disney Make ‘Medusa’ Scary? The Snake-Haired Gorgon Is Getting Her Own Movie

Disney is developing a live-action Medusa movie with Seven Bucks. Deadline reports that Michael Montemayor, who worked on Disney’s live-action Tangled, is writing the first draft.

Dwayne Johnson is producing alongside Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, and Matt Smith.

As horror icons go, Medusa might be the head of the snake in Greek mythology. Pun intended. One of three Gorgon sisters, she could turn anyone who looked at her to stone. Even after Perseus cut off her head, it could still do the trick.

The Medusa that’s always haunted me is Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion creation in 1981’s Clash of the Titans. Everybody remembers the Kraken. I remember Perseus crouched behind a pillar, watching his shield because he can’t risk a look at what’s coming around the corner. Meanwhile, we get to watch her slither right up to him. That scene still scares the shit out of me.

I was thrilled we got to do our own Medusa in the V/H/S/99 segment “The Gawkers,” Tyler MacIntyre’s riff on American Pie. A bunch of teenage boys in 1999 rig a webcam to spy on the hot neighbor. Of all the women these idiots could have picked to watch, they picked Medusa. Pulling off those snakes with Justin Martinez of Radio Silence was nothing short of a miracle. If you want some idea of how complicated that effect was, the V/H/S/99 disc includes our camera test and a Making of Medusa featurette.

How much horror are we getting out of Disney? I could see them going the fairy-tale sorceress route, but I hope somebody working on this remembers what it felt like to watch Perseus behind that pillar. Imagine being a kid and getting that Medusa in a Disney movie.