In 1991, Wes Craven’s People Under the Stairs hit theaters, a horror satire that follows a teenager and two adults who attempt a robbery and get more than they had bargained for. The film has been lauded for the satirical way it explored a sensitive topic such as the struggles between the upper and lower class of society, a problem that persists to this day. Universal Studios has recently announced their hopes of rebooting the film, and it would appear that the wheels are in motion as they have even announced whom they plan to produce the film alongside. It has been announced that Jordan Peele will be signing up to produce the film, alongside Win Rosenfeld via their Monkeypaw Productions imprint.
Peele has been on a tear through Hollywood the past few years, directing films like 2019’s Us and 2017’s Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay Get Out. These films have been revered for not just the story they tell, but the ways in which they tell them, typically via a rather sinister means relative to the overall meaning behind the work. This seemingly makes Peele an excellent candidate to produce the reboot of a film like People Under the Stairs given the satirical nature of the plot, and the film is seemingly a great candidate for a reboot in the current socio-political atmosphere. Universal and Monkeypaw also worked together on the aforementioned films which both saw critical and commercial success, only adding fuel to the fire of what could be an excellent reboot; though it is unclear if Peele will take the director’s chair as he did for both of those films, his involvement alone is promising to say the least.
This film will be the first reboot of a Wes Craven work since his death in 2015. The last work the legendary director had played a part in was the Scream television series that aired via MTV before airing its final season through VH1 in 2019, illustrating the impact of Craven’s work even after his death and the potential reasoning behind rebooting his past work now. Oddly enough, Craven was also said to be working on a People Under the Stairs television series alongside Syfy; now, Peele and company will pick up where he left off, returning to the original work in his honor. This is great news for fans on the horizon of the film’s 30th anniversary, and while it might be difficult for those responsible to get the film in theaters in time to celebrate, it will surely be well-received regardless of the timing.
