DreamWorks to Remake Yomigaeri: Resurrection

Having already snapped up the rights to “Ghost in the Shell” for Steven Spielberg to produce and maybe also direct, DreamWorks has finally secured remake rights for the Japanese sci-fi/horror hit “Yomigaeri” (read our review of the original here). No surprise that a lot of people were keen on remaking the 2003 hit, as “Yomigaeri” (”Resurrection” in English) has a nifty little idea and a great twist at around the hour mark.

Variety has more on the plot:

Based on a novel by Shinji Kajio, “Yomigaeri” centers on a government official who is sent to a rural town to investigate a child who, after vanishing for 60 years, returns to his mother not having aged at all.

The best way to describe “Yomigaeri” is, it’s a horror movie with a sci-fi element, but the horror elements aren’t really scary. And the film isn’t really just about a “child”, it’s actually about an entire village, where dead people are returning to life — and not to eat brains or anything evil like that. One day, they just start showing back up, and returning to their ordinary lives. Again, not horror exactly, but more fantastical.

William Nicholson (”Gladiator”) will pen the remake. DreamWorks is eyeing a late 2008 start date.

Some scenes from the original: