Back in the ’90s, movie fans were given a number of stories that put teen-aged characters into terrifying situations and were also given experiences focusing on slackers who found themselves in thrilling adventures. The 1999 movie Idle Hands combined both of those genres into one experience, and now Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard is teaming up with Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman to put a new spin on the concept, per Variety. Wolfhard will be co-writing the movie with collaborator Billy Bryk, with the pair previously delivering the movie Hell of a Summer, and the two are reportedly being eyed to direct as Reitman serves as a producer.
“Finn and Billy crushed their directorial debut and have a completely original take on Idle Hands that captures a disaffected generation,” Reitman shared of the project. “We are excited to support them as they bring their unique take to the screen and summon the demons.”
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The original movie focused on a stoner whose hand becomes possessed to kill, even after it’s cut off from his body. While it has a horror premise, the movie is injected with plenty of humor and supernatural exploits. Idle Hands starred up-and-coming talent like Devon Sawa, Jessica Alba, Seth Green, Elden Henson, and Vivica A. Fox. In addition to the movie bringing together a lot of exciting talent on screen, the movie’s soundtrack also had a lot of alternative bands, which included Rob Zombie, The Offspring, Blink-182, and Static-X.
[RELATED – Idle Hands Star Would Like to See the Film Get a “Non-’90s” Reboot]
At the time of release, the movie largely fell flat with both audiences and critics and failed to replicate the success of other teen-centric movies. That year also saw the release of movies like American Pie, She’s All That, Varsity Blues, 10 Things I Hate About You, Cruel Intentions, and Outside Providence, all of which earned devout followings almost immediately. It’s taken a bit longer for Idle Hands to earn as large of a following as some of those other films, but its blend of humor and horror has seen its fan base grow larger every year.
Fans aren’t the only ones interested in the property being revived, as even Sawa previously expressed his interest in the concept being brought back into the spotlight.
“I know it’ll never happen, but to reboot Idle Hands and have a new, young Anton and see what somebody does with the hand stuff. There’s such young, fresh talent nowadays, I would love to see what a non-’90s version of Idle Hands looks like. I’m all for that stuff,” the actor shared with ComicBook in 2020.
The actor even previously expressed his interest in returning for a new entry in the series, sharing with ComicBook in 2019 on the idea of returning, “In a heartbeat. If there was one film that I want to do a sequel to that would be the one. Just because that set was, between Elden, and Seth Green, and Vivica Fox, Alba, Jack Noseworthy, and all those people, it was like summer camp and it was so much fun.”
Stay tuned for updates on the new Idle Hands.
Are you excited for a new take on the concept? Contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter or on Instagram to talk all things Star Wars and horror!