‘Tremors’ Creators Say They’ve Reclaimed Rights to Script
The founders of Stampede Entertainment, the team behind Tremors, say they’ve reclaimed the rights to the cult monster movie from Universal and are planning to expand the franchise.
“We are discussing a return-to-Perfection sequel,” they said in a blog post, referencing the small desert town in Nevada their 1990 creature feature is located, “and one or two more outlandish ideas featuring graboids in new settings.”
The idea for the next movie will come straight from Stampede Entertainment partners Ron Underwood, who directed the original, and writers Brent Maddock and S.S. Wilson, both of whom took turns directing sequels to the first. They said in the blog posted on Wednesday that they “aren’t reading outside ideas” and that the next film “will not be a remake [of] the first movie with a new cast.”
Stampede Entertainment wasn’t a part of the three latest installments to the franchise, which was produced by the direct-to-video arm of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Wilson, Maddock and Nancy Roberts, also a partner at Stampede, helmed three sequels.
Amid the success of Sinners at the box office, chatter has been percolating about director Ryan Coogler’s unique deal with Warner Bros. Discovery giving him ownership of the film after 25 years. But a provision in U.S. copyright law allows creators to claw back the rights to their works after a certain period of time, though it’s typically 35 years. Highly-regarded directors and writers, usually those who have a track record of helming box office juggernauts, have been known to negotiate deals that shorten that time frame, including Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Still in the cards: Kevin Bacon’s return to the franchise. The actor has expressed interest in starring in a sequel and said that Universal approached him, with the catch that they’d be direct-to-video. A TV series was latter shopped around, eventually landing at SyFy, but eventually died.
“We are considering ideas that feature the return of Kevin Bacon as Val, but no promises!,” the post read.
Stampede Entertainment also said it has reached a deal with Christian Francis for a Tremors novel. “Beyond that, it is now clear we have no rights to the first movie and no ability to license anything from it,” it added. “We cannot license, for example, t-shirts with a graboid on them, or even something with the Tremors title logo (the original script was titled ‘Beneath Perfection’).”
Tremors was a box office bomb but went on to become a cult classic. Starring Bacon and Fred Ward, it centered on the town of Perfection, Nevada, which is suddenly plagued with deadly-worm like monsters. Its creature effects, colorful characters and comedy have made the film enduring and popular with VHS audiences.
Stampede Entertainment didn’t respond to a request for comment.