On Friday, we seemed poised to enter the weekend with some distressing news: The Hollywood Reporter announced that TriStar Pictures had closed a deal with The Jim Henson Company to produce “a new iteration” of the cult classic Labyrinth, with the screenplay written by Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Nicole Perlman. While THR demurred that it was unclear whether this would be a remake or sequel, the use of the term “reboot” across many headlines meant that anxiety spread along with the news. The timing of David Bowie’s passing didn’t help, either.
But this weekend, Perlman took to Twitter to clear things up. First off, the new Labyrinth will not be a reboot.
Not “rebooting” anything, guys.
— Nicole Perlman (@Uncannygirl) January 23, 2016
Henson Co & I started talking in late 2014, so the timing of these rumors is so upsetting. I would never seek to profit from Bowie’s death.
— Nicole Perlman (@Uncannygirl) January 23, 2016
Labyrinth is my favorite film from childhood, so I share your concerns that any continuation of the world be handled with love and respect.
— Nicole Perlman (@Uncannygirl) January 23, 2016
Guys, please don’t fall for all the clickbait. No one is remaking “Labyrinth.” That movie is perfect as it is.
— Nicole Perlman (@Uncannygirl) January 24, 2016
As io9 points out, the studios may still have made their decision in response to Bowie’s death, but that decision would not have been Perlman’s. The fact that she called the project “a continuation” seems to point toward sequel territory. Maybe she’ll draw inspiration from Toby Froud’s recent reenactment of “Magic Dance”?
