WIRE Buzz: Universal to remake The Others; Kyle Chandler awakens to Slumberland; more

First up on this gravy train of genre entertainment news otherwise known as the WIRE Buzz Express, Universal Pictures will be revisiting the horror classic The Others. According to Deadline, Universal and Sentient Entertainment are set to remake Alejandro Amenabar’s 2001 film starring Nicole Kidman after Universal optioned the rights from Sentient in a bidding war. 

The original film, a haunted house/ghost story set in 1945, wowed critics and audiences alike with a surprise twist ending, while scaring up more than $200 million at the box office worldwide. 

Although it’s not currently known how close the new film will stick with the story of the 2001 original, the plan was to modernize the story when Sentient nabbed the rights this past spring. Whether the intention to transplant the scary story to the present day remains to be seen. Executives “are currently meeting with writers to adapt the script,” the media outlet stated.

Up next, Deadline is reporting that Kyle Chandler (Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Super 8) has joined the cast of Slumberland, The Hunger Games director Francis Lawrence’s feature film adaptation of Winsor McCay’s comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland for Netflix.

Chandler joins a cast that includes Jason Momoa, Chris O’Dowd, and Marlow Barkley. Chernin Entertainment is producing.

Although plot details are not being disclosed, Comicbook.com said back in March that the film follows a young girl named Nema (switched from Nemo in the comic and the anime it inspired, Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland) who travels to a mystical dreamland to seek out her missing father with the help of a giant creature named Flip, reportedly played by Momoa. 

No word from the media outlet or Netflix as to what Chandler’s role will be. SYFY WIRE has reached out for comment.

Finally, Amazon Studios has bought the rights to a sci-fi time travel thriller pitched by writers Anna Halberg and Spenser Cohen, Deadline has also revealed.

Described as a “grounded sci-fi action thriller,” Raindrop tells the story of an estranged mother and daughter who must reluctantly partner together to uncover a conspiracy after a mission involving time travel goes horribly wrong. Automatik will produce the project, with Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger set to produce and Gemma Levinson on board to executive produce. 

Cohen's writing credits include Extinction (Netflix), Distant (Amblin), and Moonfall (to be directed by Roland Emmerich). Halberg and Cohen have recently been tapped to write the script for a film adaptation of Nicholas Adams' 1993 novel Horrorscope.