Happy New Year, everyone! I hope all of you have had a fun time celebrating the end of 2022 and ringing in 2023. Now, Christmas is done and New Years is over with. Everyone is getting themselves back to their regular routine. However, some people could find themselves with ants in their pants with new year resolutions. That is certainly what is happening over at Warner Bros. when they hired Michael Giacchino to direct the remake of THEM!.
Deadline announced the 1954 monster movie THEM! will be getting remade by Michael Giacchino under Warner Bros. Giacchino is mostly known to compose music soundtracks for films such Cloverfield, Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Jurassic World: Dominion, Super 8, The Batman, many Marvel movies, and more. Recently, he has been getting more into the role of director. He has directed Marvel's Halloween short special Werewolf By Night for Disney+ and has been given rave reviews for capturing the classic black and white monster movies such as The Wolfman and Frankenstein. Now, Giacchino is stepping into the director role again. This time on a much bigger scale and probably a larger budget. He will even be composing his own music for the THEM! remake.
In the original film directed by Gordon Douglas, a range of atomic testing in New Mexico caused a nest of ants to grow and mutate into large, man-eating monsters. In this new version, he tells Deadline saying, "There's always a movie in your mind that never leaves your head. For me, that's THEM! It wasn't until much later in life until 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. The current version of THEM! is about immigration, and to tell a story about the subject through the lens of this insane science fiction monster movie."
Now, I will be real with you. To use immigration as the subject for the movie is going to make the movie controversial and I find it a little concerning. I know what you're thinking. We have seen politics in monster movies before and it is nothing new, BUT this is modern year politics we are talking about. We don't necessarily live in an age where you can talk about politics freely without somebody getting offended and canceling the movie just because it doesn't agree with your views. Until we see something from this remake, we can't really say just HOW political this movie will be. The movie could lean hard on either party or it could be apolitical and not leaning towards any one party. At the end of the day, all we really want to see is some epic monster action and not ruin this really good run of monster movies we are having. I think that is something we can all agree on.
For all we know, this could turn into the Godzilla movie we needed. I am not talking about turning THEM! into a major film franchise. What I mean is that if Michael Giacchino plays on that allegory just right, then he could get a huge hit on his hands. When Gojira was released in Japan in 1954, talking about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the Hydrogen bomb tests was a very touchy subject at that time. Toho Co. was even concerned that the allegory may cause a huge backlash because they were breaking protocol set by the Japanese government to leave out any mention of the bombings and the H-bomb tests. Yet, the opposite happened where the movie was praised by so many people because the subject was commented on. The movie had people running out of the theaters too, but what people really wanted was something that voiced the the thoughts and concerns on the subject. With Michael's concept of immigration, THEM! has the potential to turn into this current generation's Godzilla if done right.
Other than that, I am really curious to see how Giacchino handles this remake. I have not watched Werewolf by Night, but based on the trailer and photos that I have seen Giacchino really did make that movie look like those classic Universal Studios horror movies. So I am really itching to see what Giacchino comes up with in his new iteration of THEM! he is making under Warner Bros.
Michael Giacchino is also involving his brother, Anthony Giacchino, in the production of THEM!. The Giacchino brothers have apparently been making movies together ever since they were kids with Michael directing and Anthony starring along with their neighborhood friends. Anthony even directed a Disney+ documentary about his brother called Director by Night and has won an Oscar in 2021 for a short film called Colette. Can the power of brotherhood make THEM! rise to stardom in this modern monster movie era?
Currently, there is no release date yet for THEM! However, considering that this movie had just been announced, I say 2025/2026 is a safe bet. It is unknown if this current renaissance of monster movies will still be around when this movie is released. So let's hope that it isn't too late.
What are your thoughts on Michael Giacchino directing a remake of THEM!? Have you seen the original and have you watched Werewolf by Night? Let me know in the comments section of your thoughts on THEM! getting a remake. Make sure to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Minds, MeWe, Gab, and TRUTH Social to stay up to date for more news, reviews, and discussions.