The Changeling (1980) is a Canadian psychological horror film starring George C. Scott and Trish Van Devere. In it, a famous composer named John Russell and his family are on the way to the perfect vacations when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. The gigantic residence seems all the room that John needs to write music and work on getting over with life. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a child who has found a comfortable nest in John’s sadness and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them.
This fantastic early 1980s film directed by Hungarian filmmaker Peter Medak, who would later sign other titles like Let Him Have It (1991), Romeo Is Bleeding (1993) or Species II (1998), is perhaps one of the most forgotten movies of that golden decade in horror flicks. International sales company Cornerstone Films has chosen this remake as their first adventure as a movie producer firm. They have partnered with Tom Tykwer‘s Berlin-based X Filme to finance the project, says The Hollywood Reporter. “The new film shifts the action from the U.S. to Venice, Italy. After the death of his young daughter, musician Joe Carmichael returns to his childhood home in Italy. But he finds the house is haunted by the spirit of a dead child and begins to uncover a terrifying family secret”, has been stated.
Producers have chosen Mark Steven Johnson to be responsible for the remake, which will write and direct. He is known for being the writer and director of movies like Daredevil (2003), Ghost Rider (2007) or Killing Season (2013), and has recently completed his latest work to date the crime drama flick Finding Steve McQueen (2018). The casting is underway, and production is set to begin in Italy in early 2019.
To refresh the memory, let’s check out the trailer for original The Changeling (1980):
