Black Christmas Getting Remake From Blumhouse, Hits Theaters This December

Just in time for the holidays, Imogen Poots will star in a remake of the cult horror classic Black Christmas. Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions will take on the film, producing alongside Ben Cosgrove and Adam Hendricks from Divide/Conquer, according to Variety. Greg Gilreath and Zac Locke of Divide/Conquer will executive produce. Sophia Takal and April Wolfe wrote the screenplay for the film, which will star Aleyse Shannon, Brittany O'Grady, Lily Donoghue and Caleb Eberhardt. Takal will direct.

The 1974 original, from screenwriter Roy Moore and director Bob Clark, centered on a group of sorority girls who are stalked by a stranger on Christmas break. Blumhouse and Universal reportedly started looking for Halloween franchises to build on following the commercial and critical success of last year's Halloween. The original Black Christmas earned $4 million on a $650,000 budget and spawned an army of imitators. Considering one of the earliest slasher films, Black Christmas is often cited as an influence on the original Halloween. The original starred Superman: The Movie's Margot Kidder, A Nightmare on Elm Street's John Saxon, and Olivia Hussey of Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet.

Inspired by the urban legend "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs" and a series of murders that took place in the Westmount section of Montreal, Quebec, Moore wrote the screenplay under the title Stop Me. The filmmakers made numerous alterations to the script, primarily the shifting to a university setting with young adult characters. The film was released in the UK later that year as Silent Night, Evil Night.

A 2006 remake of Black Christmas was directed by X-Files and The Twilight Zone executive producer Glen Morgan. It starred Arrow's Katie Cassidy alongside Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Michelle Trachtenberg and Mary Elizabeth Winstead of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. Takal previously worked with Blumhouse TV on New Year, New You earlier this year for Hulu's Into the Dark anthology series. Fans have also noted that this is the rare case of a female writer/director team taking on a horror movie full of female leads.

Black Christmas will be making its way to theaters on December 13.