A couple of months ago we learned that Simon West is the latest director to take on a remake of The Blob. Now the folks at Den Of Geek have caught up with West and have asked him some pointed questions about how he envisions reinventing the Blob for 21st century audiences.

It seems that West’s idea is to use modern visual effects technology, i.e. CGI, to bring to the screen a film that sounds more epic in scope than the original film.

Yeah, it’s definitely going to be on a much bigger canvas than the originals, which were much more small, niche genre horror movies. My version of The Blob’s going to be more sci-fi…

The blob itself will be more sophisticated, more along the lines of Alien and Predator and things like that – much more science-based, the way Jurassic Park made you believe you could bring back dinosaurs with a bit of DNA from a mosquito. This will be much more explained on where the blob comes from and how it works. It’ll be a much more sophisticated creature – because it is a monster movie rather than a horror in that sense.

West goes on to draw a parallel with another classic science-fiction film trope.

This thing’s come from another planet, and also, we don’t know how many there are. It’s fun at the moment – while I’m prepping this other film, The Blob is a bit longer term. I’m having a lot of designing this creature, what its talents are, its attributes, how you can think you’ve defeated it, but you haven’t. It’s fun inventing a creature like that – like the new Alien or the new Predator.

Well, I certainly like his enthusiasm and it does sound like a much better approach than former Blob-remake director Rob Zombie’s “not to have a big red blobby thing” attitude. Let’s hope in all that enthusiasm he doesn’t forget to do what Alien and Predator did so well – make us care about the characters on the run from and trying to stop the Blob.

Director Simon West (Con Air, The Expendables 2) will be directing a remake of the classic 1958 horror classic The Blob.

Deadline is reporting the film will start shooting this summer, though there is no word on any cast or who may have written the screenplay.

West is quoted by Deadline as stating –

With modern CGI we can now fully realize the potential of The Blob. The world I create will be totally believable, immersive and emotionally satisfying. It’s a thrill to introduce an enduring icon to a wider audience and a whole new era of fans.

There have been several attempts to get a Blob remake off the ground over the past several years. Screenwriters Carey W. Hayes and Chad Hayes, the team behind the 2005 House Of Wax remake and 2013’s The Conjuring, wrote one attempt. Rocker-turned-director Rob Zombie was also attached to oversee a new version of the film, though he never got to the point where a script was written. Zombie infamously had stated that his intention for his remake was “not to have a big red blobby thing.” So perhaps we’re all better off that this attempt has been grounded.