Because of Sausage Party co-director Conrad Vernon, moviegoers will never look at groceries the same way. The filmmaker's next project will take him from store aisles to the town of Tromaville, as Vernon is now set to helm the remake of 1984's The Toxic Avenger.
Variety (via Deadline) reports that Vernon will direct The Toxic Avenger remake from a screenplay by Mike Arnold and Chris Poole, who will rewrite a previous remake script penned by D.C. Mitchell and Steve Pink. In addition to co-writing the prior script for the remake, Pink was at one point lined up to direct the film as well.
For those unfamiliar with the beloved Troma film, The Toxic Avenger followed bullied janitor Melvin Ferd, who fell into toxic waste after being pursued by his tormentors, only to rise from certain death and become transformed into a disfigured defender of Tromaville.
Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, who directed the original Toxic Avenger, will serve as executive producers alongside Storyscape Entertainment's Bob Cooper and Alex Schwartz, as well as Weed Road's Greg Lessans.
While specific plot details for the reimagining have yet to be revealed, Deadline reports that this version of The Toxic Avenger will be "a more grounded and mainstream telling" of the tale.
The original film was followed by three sequels, a ’90s cartoon series, a stage musical, and a Marvel comic book series. Time will tell if the new take on this cult favorite will lead to rebooted franchise success, and we'll keep Daily Dead readers updated on further details.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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