Matt Reeves adapting 8 O’Clock in the Morning, the story that inspired They Live

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

We knew this day was coming: Back in October of last year, producer Eric Newman stirred the internet pot with talk of a THEY LIVE remake; specifically intriguing (or distressing, if you prefer) to fanboys was the notion that the film’s notorious sunglasses would be dropped from the proceedings. Well, today brings us the news that it the new flick is indeed happening… but don’t call it a remake.

According to Deadline.com, Matt Reeves (LET ME IN) has signed on to write and direct a movie based on “8 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING”, the short story that also inspired the John Carpenter cult classic.

The story’s synopsis: When given the command to awaken in a stage hypnosis show, volunteer George Nada is immediately and totally awake: he recognizes the aliens in the audience, something no one else seems to be aware of. Other signs, too, are now noticeable: the image of the the aliens on television, hypnotizing the audience to maintain the hypnotic illusion, posters that say “Marry and Reproduce”. He is able to turn the hypnotized audience against the aliens but at a cost.

Strike Entertainment partners Eric Newman and Marc Abraham (DAWN OF THE DEAD, THE THING) are producing, while Universal will eventually distribute.

Here’s what Reeves said about the project: “I saw an opportunity to do a movie that was very point-of-view driven, a psychological science fiction thriller that explores this guy’s nightmare,” Reeves told me. “There could be a desperate love story at the center of this. Carpenter took a satirical view of the material and the larger political implication that we’re being controlled. I am very drawn to the emotional side, the nightmare experience with the paranoia of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or a Roman Polanski-style film.”

You can read Nelson’s short story right HERE if you’re so inclined. If you do give it a peek, you’ll agree that it’s an almost entirely different beast than the Carpenter film, so one can see how a new version would be justifiably different. Still, I expect a lot of people to be peeved at the very idea… Be sure to weigh in below!

Reeves’ CLOVERFIELD star Odette Yustman