Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is working on passion project Haunted

Rose Leslie - Haunted

UPDATE – September 2016: DreamWorks shuts down Haunted weeks before start date, as the director is now off the project.

UPDATE – August 2016: There’s some interesting casting news for Haunted. According to Deadline, Rose Leslie will play the lead role.

Leslie is probably best known for her role as Ygritte on Game of Thrones (the wildling, who won Jon Snow’s heart), but she was also in The Last Witch Hunter by Breck Eisner, who will probably be directing the upcoming Friday the 13th movie.

However, the next movie for Rose Leslie, is another horror sci-fi movie, we’re eagerly expecting: Morgan. If you haven’t already watched the trailer for Morgan, you really should.

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With the production af Haunted, we’re finally seeing Spielberg return to the horror genre. And while it’s been quite some time since Spielberg worked in horror, the genre is at the root of his career. Being one of the most recognizable and acclaimed moviemakers in the world, it is awesome when you can remind people that he was behind horror classics such as Jaws, Poltergeist, Gremlins and Arachnophobia (he directed the first and produced the three latter).

In fact, when he received his first ever Golden Globe nomination in 1976, it was for directing Jaws. So horror really is a huge part of how he began his filmmaker career. However, it seems people forget this, so whenever someone talk of horror as something inferior, then the Spielberg mention works wonders – go ahead, try it out next time anyone says they hate horror.

And now Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment is returning to this genre with the movie Haunted. The script for Haunted is from the amazing minds of Chad Hayes & Carey Hayes (The Conjuring), so that certainly gives it a damn good starting point. The story is described as inspired by Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw; A gothic ghost story from 1898.

Haunted - Turn of the ScrewSeveral other of Henry James’ works have been made into films including The Portrait of a Lady, which Jane Campion made in 1996 starring Nicole Kidman (The Others), John Malcovich and Barbara Hershey (The Entity).  Incidently, the storyline of Alejandro Amenábar’s The Others has been compared to The Turn of the Screw, so if you’re not familiar with the story, this could give you an indication of its plot.

Also, The Turn of the Screw has already been adapted in many ways, including film (most recently Donato Rotunno’s In A Dark Place from 2006) but also as an opera, ballet and a Broadway play, so it’s quite an inspirational story for artist in all areas of the performing arts.

The director of Haunted has just been announced by Deadline to be Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Frensnadillo (28 Weeks Later), who is also rumored as the director for an upcoming Pet Sematary remake.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on the production of Haunted as news about the film is released – or rumored from the right sources.

Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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