The 1996 thrillerFearis getting the reboot treatment from Universal Pictures with a script to be written byStraight Out of Comptonscribe Jonathon Herman. The original 1996 movie starred Reese Witherspoon as the 16-year old good girl who gets involved with the wrong boy,Mark Wahlberg. Wahlberg seems to be the perfect boyfriend at the beginning of the movie only to show off an incredibly dark and sinister side that ends with the beheading of dogs, the murdering of friends, and the attempted slaughter of an entire family.
Brian Grazer produced the originalFearin 1996 and he is back on board for the new reboot, which is rumored to be told through the eyes of the female perspective. When it came out in 1996, it was labeled as aFatal Attractionfor teenagers and was trashed by critics. However, it became a sleeper hit at the box office and has gained a cult status ever since and helped to launch the mega careers ofReese Witherspoonand Mark Wahlberg through their strong performances in the movie.
Feartells the story of a 16-year old good girl named Nicole (Reese Witherspoon) who falls in love with thebad boy with musclesnamed David (Mark Wahlberg). Nicole’s father, Steve (William Peterson), automatically does not trust David and thinks that there’s something off about the young man with the heavy Boston accent, but he doesn’t know the extent just yet. David and Nicole enjoy a few days of young love, and then he decides to kill her best friend out of jealousy. Their relationship eventually goes downhill with murders and the aforementioned beheading of thefamily dog. David then tries to murder the whole family, which results in him getting thrown out a window and plunging to his death on the rocks while the family hugs.
The movie hadLifetime movie-type of plot, but it was put together pretty well and as previously noted, was held up by the strong acting performances of Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg. New fans keep discoveringFear, which is more than likely why Universal has chosen to reboot the movie. Plus, 90s nostalgia is a profitable thing right now and so are reboots.Fearwas noted for some controversial sexual scenes (Witherspoon was portraying a 16-year old girl), which the new reboot may decide to shy away from. Again, nothing has been officially confirmed in terms of a storyline.
Aside from Jonathon Herman writing the screenplay, not much else is clear about theFearreboot. Herman has written number of different projects for Universal and it’s believed that he is going to be putting a unique touch on the new version of the 1996 cult classic that many believe has gotten better with age. Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg have yet to comment on the new reboot. You can check out the original report about theFearreboot over atDeadline.
