'Jacob's Ladder' Remake In the Works

Remakes of recognizable horror classics are nothing new, but it seems as if we're entering a time when some fairly recent one-off genre films are getting the same treatment. A remake of Flatliners is already on the way, and now another cult hit from that year is getting a modern update.

THR reports that a remake of Adrian Lyne's Jacob's Ladder is in the works, and it's a bit further along than anybody knew. Jake Wade Bell (When A Stranger Calls) wrote an early draft of the script, but now Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train) is taking over for a rewrite. Tim Robbins starred in the original version, playing a Vietnam veteran who returns home and attempts to put the horrors of war behind him, but begins suffering nightmarish hallucinations and visions that break his grip on reality.

Before you start rioting in the streets over seeing another horror favorite ruined, the plan is apparently for this to be more of an "homage" than a straight remake, updated with contemporary issues and situations, yet will “still maintain a story that examines issues and poses existential questions.” So why is this a Jacob's Ladder remake and not something new?  Gotta put that name brand to good use, I suppose. The original freaked me out when I was a teenager, but it's been a good twenty years since I've seen it. Perhaps it's time for a revisit?