It seems like just yesterday that the horror genre had seemingly fallen out of favor with moviegoers, and the genre as a whole suffered financially as a result of this. But the tide now appears to be changing, with the impressive premiere of Scream 6 earlier this month that was met with rave reviews and performed incredibly well in the box office. With that in mind, this has subsequently opened the doors for other horror projects that may have been shelved in the past to finally come to light and have the opportunity to see a theatrical release. That is certainly the case with MGM’s latest project Amityville: An Origin Story, a continuation of one of the most well known franchises in horror history over four decades since the release of the franchises first film.
The first film to release in the Amityville franchise was The Amityville Horror which released in 1979, which was met with lukewarm reviews at best when it originally premiered. But that didn’t stop the creative minds at the franchises helm, with a sequel being released in 1992 and then a reboot of the first film in 2005. Amityville: An Origin Story is set to go in a different direction however, and aims to explore the facts behind what occurred in the iconic location that is the film’s setting and inspired the franchise in the first place. While this isn’t the first time a project like this has been attempted in the context of the Amityville franchise, it marks MGM’s first attempt to shed light on the iconic franchise as the project will, per the trailer which has been reposted below, feature interviews with individuals involved in the original incidents that inspired the films and should be interesting for fans as new details may emerge that were previously in the dark. Said fans will just have to find out for themselves though when Amityville: An Origin Story premieres on MGM+ next month on April 23rd.
While the Amityville franchise may not be as big as Friday the 13th or Halloween, it’s place is firmly cemented in Hollywood history. Many horror fans consider the 1979 original a classic, and for that reason alone we are getting a follow up project almost half a century later to clear up any mystique surrounding the story. How well of a job MGM does clearing up that mystique is still yet to be seen, but at the very least fans of the Amityville franchise have something big to look forward to next month when Amityville: An Origin Story debuts.
