Could Steve Guttenberg be on the verge of a comeback to the big screen? Only in dreams, however, Amblin and Universal apparently both have their eyes set on a new “Casper, the Friendly Ghost” feature film, the rights of which are now owned by Classic Media who hope to reboot the franchise.
As you might recall, everyone’s favorite spirit was last seen in multiplexes in the 1995 blockbuster film starring Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman that grossed over $100 million domestically, toppled over $287 million worldwide and launched the career of director Brad Silberling, who later went on to helm the box office darlings “City of Angels” and “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.”
However, don’t expect any hackneyed direct-to-video features. Instead, the studio has their minds made up that the relaunch will set its sail for the silver screen and as with every feature it seems nowadays, talk of 3D has already been knocked around. While any story has yet to hit the page, reports believe that the film may follow in the footsteps of the 2009 comic “Casper and the Spectrals,” which brought new life to the famed apparition tale with hopes of wrangling in a whole new audience.
If you ask us, the studio would be smart to add a bit more edge to an already long expired idea. Though we must admit the original offering had its fair share of charm, and while redundant and pointless, still managed to scare up a rather large number of moviegoers. As with the first film and its straight to videos sequels that followed, expect a CG filmed live-action picture primed for a prepubescent crowd of modern day tweens. — Aaron Fowler
