{"id":11396,"date":"2025-07-15T10:24:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T10:24:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/11396\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T10:24:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T10:24:05","slug":"the-russo-brothers-almost-remade-one-of-the-most-iconic-horror-movies-ever-thank-god-it-never-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/11396\/","title":{"rendered":"The Russo Brothers Almost Remade One of the Most Iconic Horror Movies Ever \u2014 Thank God It Never Happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe and Anthony Russo, known professionally as the Russo Brothers<\/a>, are likely names that need no introduction. The visionary directors behind many of the MCU\u2019s most pivotal films<\/a>, including the massive Avengers: Endgame<\/a> the duo are indeed royalty when it comes to big-budget cinema. But, while the two have an undeniable talent, not all of their work has been met with the same amount of praise in the same way their Marvel work has<\/a>. In fact, many of their other films outside of the superhero genre have missed the mark, such as the Tom Holland-led Cherry<\/a>, which was full of ambition, but lacked the nuance needed to tell the story properly. Sadly, many other Russo-led ventures have been met with similar reactions. While we would never discredit the incredible work the brothers have done, we do breathe a sigh of relief that one of their projects never came to fruition: a remake of the iconic horror film, Poltergeist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Russo Brothers\u2019 Style Doesn\u2019t Work for \u2018Poltergeist\u2019<\/p>\n

Despite the 2015 remake of Poltergeist<\/a> being a critical failure (and its mid-level box office performance), Bloody Disgusting<\/a> reported on a possible remake being in the works, helmed by the Avengers duo just four years later in 2019. The Russo Brothers are no strangers to spectacle<\/a>. Their epic, larger-than-life approach to movies such as Infinity War needs a massive scope to successfully tell their stories<\/a>. That sort of method, however, is often detrimental to horror, especially with a film like Poltergeist. For more than 40 years, the film has been a hallmark of the haunted house genre<\/a>, due in large part to its approach to terror. While there are moments of spectacle, such as the tree or the monstrous apparition during the climax, a majority of the film\u2019s horror comes from its more atmospheric and understated moments. Sure, the events that make Carol Anne (Heather O\u2019Rourke) disappear are grand, but it\u2019s the haunting, simple echo of her voice in the aftermath that truly makes the twist terrifying.<\/p>\n

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\"joe-russo-anthony-russo-doomsday\"<\/p>\n

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Related<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tI Can\u2019t Believe I\u2019m Saying This, but It Looks Like the Russos Need the MCU As Much as the MCU Needs Them
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The Russos and Marvel both need a win. <\/p>\n

Likewise, the infamous clown doll<\/a> isn\u2019t scary because he attacks Robbie (Oliver Robins), but because of the sense of dread that builds from its presence alone. It creates a sense of anxiety because, though it\u2019s dormant for most of the film, we know it\u2019s not a question of if it will come to life, but when, and how? In short, the horror is, again, atmospheric, and all about the build-up. For all their skills, this is a level of nuance that the Russo Brothers don\u2019t seem ready for quite yet. Yes, Poltergeist has a few effects-heavy moments, but they are mostly reserved for the finale, while the rest of the movie is largely a feat of practical, slow-burn filmmaking which helps the horror feel more tangible and potent \u2014 something we fear isn\u2019t what we would get with a Russo Brothers-led remake. But, to their credit, there aren\u2019t many who could make another Poltergeist work, and the larger franchise has proven this time and time again.<\/p>\n

\u2018Poltergeist\u2019 Doesn\u2019t Need to Be Revisited<\/p>\n

Poltergeist remains one of the most revered horror films ever made<\/a>, not to mention one of the most successful. The original picture cost a meager $10.7 million to make and had a box office return of $121.7 million. As is often the way of the industry, the studio responded by greenlighting a sequel, Poltergeist II: The Other Side. The follow-up isn\u2019t a bad movie by any means. In fact, it\u2019s rather impressive<\/a> in that it doesn\u2019t just rehash the first film completely. However, it takes one of the original\u2019s strongest elements, the plot twist involving the Freeling house being built on a graveyard, and turns it into a mythologically-hefty story that, while giving us a great villain in the way of Reverend<\/a> (Julian Beck), falls into a dangerous trope for the genre of over explaining things, and creates some continuity errors. And, by the time Poltergeist III came along, the series was so hooked on this mythology, that the film became far from scary. In fact, most of the movie is rather laughable thanks to its cheesy effects and convoluted storyline. While another haunted house story, The Conjuring, had the characters and mythos built in early on to justify a deeper storyline<\/a>, Poltergeist never had the means to produce a franchise.<\/p>\n

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\"Madison<\/p>\n

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Related<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tThe ‘Poltergeist’ Series Just Got a Spine-Chilling Update
\n\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Amazon MGM Studios is behind the new series. <\/p>\n

Likewise, the abysmal reaction to the remake proves that this story was better off as a \u201cone and done.\u201d Modern ideals and execution turned what is one of the most gripping horror films ever created into a CGI-filled endeavor with little suspense or originality, the opposite of the sensibilities that made the original a classic. Indeed, Poltergeist is a product of its time in all the right ways, and a remake helmed by directors whose filmmaking isn\u2019t a match for this very special picture isn\u2019t something we needed. While we look forward to their next big picture, we\u2019re glad this remake didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n

Poltergeist is available to stream on HBO Max in the U.S.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe and Anthony Russo, known professionally as the Russo Brothers, are likely names that need no introduction. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[88,206],"class_list":["post-11396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}