'Poltergeist' Remake Scares Up Rosemarie DeWitt as Female Lead

Remaking a horror classic is always tough business, and this year we've already seen it done with mixed results in Evil Dead, and in a few months there's the update on Stephen King's Carrie. The jury's obviously still out on that one. But one remake that fans have been especially worried about is MGM's long-gestating Poltergeist, which is due to begin production this fall. While nobody has been cast as the little girl who can see dead people in the TV set (will they update it to an IPAD or something?), Rosemarie DeWitt has come aboard in the female lead.

The choice of Gil Kenan (Monster House) as director threw some for a loop, but having Pulitzer Prize-winning screenwriter David Lindsay-Abaire on hand should calm a few fears, and of course it doesn't hurt to have Sam Raimi producing. The film will follow a family who are terrorized by evil apparitions, and considering how well horror movies have been doing lately it's no wonder that MGM and Fox 2000 have high hopes. The search is on now for a male lead and someone to play the youngest daughter.

DeWitt will be seen next in Lynn Shelton's Touchy Feely, and is currently in production on Kill the Messenger with Jeremy Renner.