It appears Christmas has come early this year, as it was announced today that Orwo Studios and Black Hangar Studios UK, the production team behind the fourth installment in the Jeepers Creepers franchise (Jeepers Creeper: Reborn), have acquired the remake rights to the holiday slasher film ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night.’
The project was brought to Orwo by producer Anthony Masi of MasiMedia, who will be serving as a producer on the film, along with Jake Seal, Terry Bird, and Jamie R. Thompson.
Also serving as producers on the film are Scott Schneid and Dennis Whitehead of Wonderwheel Entertainment, the original film’s co-executive producers.
‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ was first released in 1984 and told the story of a young boy, named Billy, who witnesses his parents’ murder on Christmas Eve by a man dressed in a Santa suit. Years later, Billy is forced to wear a Santa suit one Christmas Eve. This, along with being raised in an abusive orphanage, causes Billy to go on a murder spree, punishing those he deems to be “naughty.”
The film was the subject of heavy controversy due to its advertising, which focused on the killer being dressed as Santa Claus. The National Parent-Teacher Association protested the movie and demanded that it be removed from theatres.
Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert also expressed their hatred of the film and even called out the makers of the movie by name, stating that they “have nothing to be proud of.”
TriStar Pictures, the film’s distributor, eventually pulled all ads for the film only six days after the film’s release. They ended up pulling the movie altogether from theatres after only two weeks.
The film would later return to the theatres the following year with ads focusing on the controversy of the film, believing this would spark audience interest. This tactic clearly worked as the film would go on to gross $2.5 million.
The film even spawned four sequels, with parts two and three focusing on Billy’s younger brother, Ricky, becoming a killer like his brother. Parts four and five would have nothing to do with the original film, with part four even dropping the slasher theme altogether.
In 2012, a loose remake titled simply ‘Silent Night’ was released with a killer again dressing up as Santa and punishing those he deems to be “naughty.”
In a statement shared by Deadline earlier today, Schneid and Whitehead had the following to say about the remake:
“The continued desire for horror content and the ongoing success of the genre meant it was the perfect time to be able to offer up this chilling revival of the iconic title.”
But we at Horrorfacts wanted to ask you:
Do we really need another ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ remake, or should this franchise fade away?
