Iconic Japanese Horror Movie Getting Second English Remake After Wes Craven Flop

Published Sep 1, 2026, 6:17 PM EDT Jeff Dodge (he/him), a published author and graduate of Western Washington University, has been a TV news editor for many years and has had the chance to interview multiple reality show stars, including Randy Jackson, Nick Cannon, Heidi Klum, Mel B and John Cena. Fun Fact: he’s been to every single Idol Live! Tour. An award-winning filmmaker has signed on to direct a brand-new remake of the Japanese horror movie Pulse. The original Japanese-language Pulse, directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, came out in 2001 and centers on a college student and a plant shop employee as they deal with a ghostly presence after the Internet causes a paranormal invasion and mysterious disappearances. An English-language remake, co-written by Wes Craven, was released in 2006 but was widely panned by critics. Now, 20 years later, Dave Boyle is getting ready to put his own spin on the horror franchise, as Deadline reports that the filmmaker will direct a brand-new English-language reboot of Pulse for the production company Spyglass. No cast members have joined the production yet. As far as the storyline is concerned, none of the characters from the previous Pulse films will be featured. Luke Piotrowski has written a script, but Boyle will step in to revise. Parker Finn and Jonathan Fass are serving as producers. All of these individuals have experience in the horror genre already, with Boyle having helmed the upcoming Never After Dark, which arrives in theaters on September 25 after debuting at the SXSW Film Festival. Piotrowski co-wrote the scripts for Siren, Stephanie, The Night House and Hellraiser with Ben Collins. Meanwhile, Finn directed Smile, Smile 2 and the 2027 horror flick Possession, which Fass is also producing with Finn. Outside of horror, Boyle's filmography includes movies like Big Dreams Little Tokyo, White on Rice, Surrogate Valentine, Daylight Savings, Man from Reno, I Will Make You Mine, Tokyo Cowboy and House of Ninjas. Over the years, he has won honors and awards at the San Diego Asian Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, San Diego Asian Film Festival, CAAMFest, and Los Angeles Film Festival. The previous iterations of Pulse had wildly different reactions from the public and critics. Kurosawa's original version debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with a critic score of 76%. In 2006, Jim Sonzero's English-language remake, which starred Kristen Bell, Ian Somerhalder, Christina Milian, Octavia Spencer, and Ron Rifkin, earned a very low Rotten Tomatoes score of 11%. It grossed $30 million at the box office and spawned the sequels Pulse 2: Afterlife and Pulse 3 two years later that bypassed theaters altogether and featured brand-new cast members. After co-writing Pulse, Craven went on to pen The Hills Have Eyes 2 and My Soul to Take, and directed Scream 4, which ended up being his final feature-length film before his passing in 2015. Now Boyle is readying his take on the horror story. As it's still very early in the development process, a release date for Pulse isn't known at this time. Release Date August 11, 2006 Runtime 85 minutes Director Jim Sonzero Writers Ray Wright, Wes Craven Producers Anant Singh, Bob Weinstein, Brian Cox, Harvey Weinstein, Joel Soisson, Michael Leahy Cast Christina Milian Isabelle Fuentes