I actually had to triple check this story because it just seemed so out of left field! Variety is reporting that Rob Zombie's next feature will be a remake of THE BLOB!?! Of course, THE BLOB is the 1958 classic that launched the career of actor Steve McQueen and was later remade (brilliantly I might add) in 1988 by Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont. Why remake it again?

The Variety article says, "In the original, an object from space crashes into a field, containing a red blob-like substance that absorbs the humans it contacts and grows exponentially. While Zombie was a fan of the original, his version will be much different.

`My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing, that’s the first thing I want to change,' Zombie said. `That gigantic Jello-looking thing might have been scary to audiences in the 1950s, but people would laugh now. I have a totally different take, one that’s pretty dark.'"

(Hey, a kid gets eaten in the 1988 version. THAT one's scary, damn it!)

The article continues, "`I’d been looking to break out of the horror genre, and this really is a science fiction movie about a thing from outer space,' Zombie said. `I intend to make it scary, and the great thing is, I have the freedom once again to take it in any crazy direction I want to. Even more than `Halloween,' where I had to deal with accepted iconic characters like Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. `The Blob’ is more concept than specific storyline with characters, so I can go nuts with it.'"

Zombie will produce with Genre Company’s Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten, original `Blob' producer Jack H. Harris, and Judith Parker Harris of Worldwide Entertainment Corporation.