Now that Vertical Entertainment has acquired the U.S. rights to the remake of the horror flick Jacob’s Ladder, it will finally see the light of day. According to a report from Deadline, the deal means that DISH will premiere the remake during a brief window in July before the film opens in theaters the following month. This is a major development for the film, which has lingered in development hell for years — not unlike its protagonist.
The Jacob’s Ladder remake is directed by David M. Rosenthal (The Perfect Guy) from the screenplay by co-writers Jeff Buhler and Sarah Thorp. It will star Michael Ealy (Think Like a Man, Seven Pounds), Jesse Williams, Nicole Beharie, Karla Souza, Guy Burnet and Joseph Sikora. In the meantime, the film’s international rights are being shopped around at Cannes.
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The 1990 Jacob’s Ladder starred Tim Robbins and was directed by Adrian Lyne. It centers around Jacob Singer, a Vietnam veteran living in New York City. Haunted by his past, Singer begins a descent into madness that threatens to blend reality and delusion with the threat of Dante-inspired damnation. The new take on the property is said to reexamine the themes of the original against a contemporary backdrop, with Jacob Singer getting his life back together after his brother is killed in Afghanistan. Once he learns his brother may be alive, the lines between reality and paranoia start to blur.
If you have DISH, you can check out the new Jacob’s Ladder in July. Everyone else will have to wait until August.