A Marvel Director Is Bringing His Horror Flair to a Classic Remake

Director and composer Michael Giacchino has always been inspired by monster movies. Now, he’s directing a full-length monster movie of his own.

Giacchino, who made his directorial debut with the Marvel Halloween special Werewolf by Night, has signed on to direct a remake of Them!. In the original 1954 film, a colony of ants is irradiated, and the ants grow to be giants. The giant ants escape their nest and terrorize Los Angeles.

“There’s always a movie in your mind that never leaves your head,” Giacchino told Deadline. “For me, that’s Them! It wasn’t until much later in life until I learned what it was about—the nuclear age. What I love about Them! is exactly what it’s called: Them! It’s about the other, the unknown which one refuses or can’t understand.”

Giacchino expressed his love of monster movies to Variety last October. “Monster movies to me are nothing but allegories for people with problems,” he said. “Every time I would watch ‘King Kong’ or ‘The Wolf Man,’ and everyone would be chasing them with torches, trying to kill them, I would always feel so badly for them. I’m like, ‘Guys, he doesn’t want to be doing this! He doesn’t want to be rampaging! He’s got an issue and he needs help.'”

Giacchino told Indiewire that “[monster] movies were never just about monsters, they were about the person behind the monster, and the struggle of being a monster afflicted by a condition. To me, that emotional approach is something that I love about those movies.”

Before turning to directing, Giacchino scored numerous movies, TV shows, and video games, including Spider-Man: No Way Home, Rogue One, and Up, for which he won an Oscar. Giacchino composed the music for Werewolf by Night, and Deadline reports that he plans to score Them!, too.

(featured image: Warner Bros.)