From the writer of Prom Night ’08
J.S. Cardone (The Covenant, Wicked Little Things) is making a notch in his belt for one more remake. On the set of Screen Gems’ upcoming Prom Night, the screenwriter behind this latest redux told Shock he’s “finishing up the development” and will be scripting Sony’s new take on The Stepfather.
Joseph Ruben (Money Train) painted a portrait of a real “disturbia” in the 1987 original film starring Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”) as Jerry Blake, the deranged stepfather who tries to slaughter his new family when they don’t live up to his standards. ’80s horror honey Jill Schoelen co-starred. The Stepfather spawned two sequels that carried the series into the early-’90s.
Cardone says his update will be a much darker approach (notably, something R rated for a change) that cuts closers to the true events that inspired the Ruben’s film. “If you know the John List story he was a guy that basically killed his entire family,” Cardone details. “[He] waited for his kids to come to school, shot and beat them to death and lined them up one by one. In this one, the new stepfather is very creepy and much different.”
But who do they have in mind to replace O’Quinn? “Names have come up, some rather interesting names. In this day and age, you have to have that name value. The thing I felt that worked for ‘The Stepfather’ was Terry was not a name value, he sort of came out of nowhere. He did an awesome job in that.”
Mind if we throw out a name? Michael Rooker.
More on The Stepfather as it comes and keep an eye out for our set visit to the Prom Night remake closer to its February 1, 2008 release.
Source: Ryan Rotten