New Monsters on Monster Squad

In 1987, director Fred Dekker released The Monster Squad. The film was a major box office disappointment but caught fire on home video, gaining fans over the years. Decades later, it’s a cult classic with a dedicated, passionate fan base. That fan base willed the film onto DVD and caught the attention of Hollywood. In particular, attention came from Platinum Dunes, the team behind multiple horror remakes and this weekend’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They began developing a remake of the property back in 2010 and even hired writers. Since then though, nothing has really come of the remake. Now, in a new interview, the Platinum Dunes team admitted it’s finally dead. Read more about the Monster Squad remake below.

Collider asked the Platinum Dunes team of Brad Fuller and Andrew Form about the Monster Squad remake:

Andrew Form: The Monster Squad, we’re not developing anymore.

Brad Fuller: That’s dead.

I see this as a good news/bad news situation. The good news is obvious. We aren’t going to get a potentially stale, lifeless remake of a film many of us know and love. “Remakes suck.” “Why doesn’t Hollywood come up with their own ideas?” All that.

The bad news is…I kind of feel like the time is right for a Monster Squad remake. The movie was so ahead of its time, marketers didn’t know how to push a subversive, bad ass, kid movie featuring a roster of classic monsters. Universal Pictures themselves are now building toward a film with all these monsters in one movie.

But that movie was already made in 1987. It’s called The Monster Squad. Plus, as much as many of us are huge fans (and trust me, I’m a frigging massive fan), the movie isn’t exactly popular in the mainstream. There’s a good chance 65% of the people who would see a trailer for a Monster Squad remake wouldn’t even know it’s a remake. And that is exactly the kind of film you want to remake. Not Psycho. Not Friday the 13th. Not Spider-Man. Do The Monster Squad.

Alas, now it’s dead. Which is certainly preferable to a bad remake. But I do think a good remake is possible here and I’d imagine, one day, we’ll see it.