Rosemarie DeWitt Lands Female Lead in POLTERGEIST Remake

Rosemarie DeWitt has been tapped to lead the upcoming remake of the classic 1982 film POLTERGEIST for MGM and Fox 2000, Deadline has confirmed.

The actress, last seen in PROMISED LAND, will take on the role originally played by JoBeth Williams, who starred opposite Craig T. Nelson. The site notes that director Gil Kenan and crew are now on the hunt to cast the male lead.

In a revisionist take on the classic horror film, a family struggling to make ends meet relocates to an outdated suburban home and is confronted by an angry spirit who kidnaps their youngest daughter and challenges them to band together to rescue her from the clutches of evil.

Kenan ("Monster House") is set to direct from a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, David Lindsay-Abaire (whose recent credits include "Oz: The Great and Powerful"). The film is being produced by Sam Raimi ("Evil Dead") and Rob Tapert ("The Posession") via Ghost House Pictures, along with Roy Lee ("The Strangers"). Nathan Kahane ("The Grudge") will serve as executive producer.

POLTERGEIST is scheduled to begin production this Fall.

DeWitt was last seen in Promised Land and Touch Feely, and will next be seen in The Dramatics. Past credits include The Odd Life of Timothy Green, The Company Men, Rachel Getting Married and Cinderella Man, as well as TV's United States of Tara, Mad Men and Standoff.

Photo Credit: RD/Leon/Retna Digital