×
Alerts & Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

‘Puppet Master’ Reboot: Straight-to-Video Horror Franchise to Return from the Dead With ‘The Littlest Reich’

'Puppet Master' Reboot: Straight-to-Video Horror Franchise to Return from the Dead With 'The Littlest Reich'
'Puppet Master' Reboot: Straight--Video Horror Franchise Return from the Dead With 'The Littlest Reich'

Once upon a time, “straight-to-video” referred to actual videotape. The “Puppet Master” franchise reigned supreme in this era, and by some metrics remains the most successful film franchise to make its money outside the confines of actual movie theaters. Courtesy of di Bonaventura Pictures and Caliber Media, those evil, anthropomorphic dolls brought to murderous life by an ancient Egyptian spell will soon return in the reboot “Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich.” Beyond that, multiple new storylines are planned as well — true to horror-movie form, this is no mere one-and-done.

READ MORE: Telluride Review: Charlie Kaufman’s Marvelously Strange ‘Anomalisa’ is An Animated Identity Crisis

“Bone Tomahawk” scribe S. Craig Zahler is on screenplay duty; the search for a new director is underway. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian of di Bonaventura and Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller of Caliber Media will produce “The Littlest Reich,” with Charles Band (who produced the original series as part of Full Moon Features) set to executive produce. Sonnier and Band announced the project over the weekend while onstage at the Texas Frightmare Weekend presented by Fangoria.

The premise has been described as follows:

“THE LITTLEST REICH follows a recently divorced young man who discovers a mint condition Blade doll in his deceased brother’s closet and plans to sell the toy at a convention in Oregon celebrating the 30th anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose at the Postville Lodge during the auction when a strange force animates all of the various puppets throughout the convention as they go on a bloody killing spree.”

READ MORE: 10 Great Movies That Only Became Hits After They Went to Video

The first “Puppet Master” was released in 1989 and has since been followed by nine direct sequels. This hard reset aims to reinvigorate the franchise and introduce it to a new generation of fans.

For more, watch the trailer for “The Witch”:


Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Festivals newsletter here.

Daily Headlines
Daily Headlines covering Film, TV and more.

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Must Read
PMC Logo
IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 IndieWire Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.