Above is the first look at Katie Holmes in the Guillermo del Toro produced remake Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, in which she stars alongside Guy Pearce. I actually brought this film up back in August 2009 when Warner Home Video sent me a review copy of their Warner Archives release of the 1973 made-for-TV original.
The new version has a few differences from the original, here is the official synopsis:
Producers Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Orphanage) and Mark Johnson (Chronicles of Narnia) join forces to deliver Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a tale of hair-raising, spine-chilling horror.
Sally Hurst (Bailee Madison), a lonely, withdrawn child, has just arrived in Rhode Island to live with her father Alex (Guy Pearce) and his new girlfriend Kim (Katie Holmes) at the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. While exploring the sprawling estate, the young girl discovers a hidden basement, undisturbed since the strange disappearance of the mansion’s builder a century ago. When Sally unwittingly lets loose a race of ancient, dark-dwelling creatures who conspire to drag her down into the mysterious house’s bottomless depths, she must convince Alex and Kim that it’s not a fantasy-before the evil lurking in the dark consumes them all.
I would assume one of the biggest changes will be the look of the little creatures living in the house, but the story itself plays pretty well into the “something lurking in the dark” horror genre so I am expecting pretty good things from this one.
First timer Troy Nixey is directing and Miramax is set to release the film on January 21, 2011. You can get a larger look at the image above by clicking here and also visit the recently launched official site right here.
I’ve also included the trailer from the original just below.
