Glen Powell in talks for Them! remake

DanielRPK has broken a report claiming How To Make A Killing star Glen Powell is currently in talks to star in a remake of the original creature horror film Them!

It is still the early, early days of discussing the revamp of director Gordon Douglas’ black-and-white sci-fi film from 1954, which focused on a threat from giant mutated ants in New Mexico that unleashes hell on nearby civilisation.

Them! featured the cast of James Whitmore, Edmund Gwenn, Joan Weldon, and James Arness, appearing in a story originally conceived by George Worthing Yates, who then took the idea to Ted Sherdeman and Russell Hughes to be adapted into a screenplay. It reportedly went on to inspire  Ishirō Honda’s kaiju film Sora no Daikaijū Radon, which translates to Giant Monster of the Sky Radon or Radon.

The film was immediately welcomed as one of American sci-fi’s greatest achievements and was nominated for Best Special Effects at the 27th Academy Awards, losing to Richard Fleischer’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea adaptation.

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It’s been reported that Michael Giacchino, the award-winning composer known for his work on many Pixar classics, will make his directorial debut with a re-work of Douglas’ film. “There’s always a movie in your mind that never leaves your head,” he told Deadline. “For me, that’s Them! It wasn’t until much later in life that I learned what it was about — the nuclear age.”

“What I love about Them! is exactly what it’s called: Them! It’s about the other, the unknown, which one refuses or can’t understand,” Giacchino added. “The current version of Them! is about immigration, and to tell a story about the subject through a lens of this insane science fiction monster movie.”

Meanwhile, Powell is known for his performances in Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun: Maverick sequel, Richard Linklater’s Hit Man, Lee Isaac Chung’s Twisters, Will Gluck’s Anyone But You, and Edgar Wright’s The Running Man. 

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Ros Tibbs

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Ros is a film and lit graduate writing news and reviews at The People's Magazine. She also writes long-form film theory, film history, analytical or curated recommendations pieces on other platforms.

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