If you’re a horror movie fan and/or took a horror movie class in college, chances are you’re familiar with the 1986 film Witchboard. The movie involves a Oujia board, ghostly possession, and lots of murder, and frankly, isn’t the best movie out there. Since it came out, however, it’s been recognized as a key horror film that explores gender in Carol J. Clover’s classic film studies book, Men, Women, and Chainsaws. This recognition, it seems, is enough to propel a remake that’s already well underway.
According to Deadline, the remake is directed by Chuck Russell, whose previous credits include 1994’s The Mask and 2002’s lesser spinoff of The Mummy, The Scorpion King.
As for the cast, Jamie Campbell Bower, who is best known for playing Stranger Things’ Vecna/No. 1 in the show’s fourth season (pictured above on said show), will star in the production in an undisclosed role. He’s joined by Madison Iseman (Jumanji), Aaron Dominguez (Only Murders in the Building), Antonia Desplat (Shantaram), and Charlie Tahan (Ozark).
Here’s the synopsis for the new Witchboard, according to Deadline:
The new film watches as recovering drug addict Emily (Iseman), her fiancé Christian (Dominguez) and a group of their friends open an organic café, refurbishing an old carriage house in New Orleans’ French Quarter. A darkness descends over Emily when she discovers an ancient pendulum board, once used to summon spirits, with Christian then seeking help for Emily from occult expert Alexander Babtiste. Babtiste, however, has secrets of his own, knowing the fateful bloodlines that binds them all to the Witchboard. A modern coven of White Witches, a masked ball at Babtiste’s mansion, and the legacy of Naga Soth, the Queen of Witches, are all then part of a dangerous game that puts Emily’s very soul at risk.
The script for this new Witchboard comes from Russell and Greg McKay, and the movie is now in production in Montreal, Canada. No news yet on when it will premiere on a screen near you.
