That Remake Of Stephen King's Children Of The Corn Everyone Forgot About Is Finally Going To Streaming

More than any other genre, horror has made a name for itself with franchises that endure for multiple installments. Some of the more high-profile names like "The Conjuring" or "Halloween" don't really come as a surprise to most folks, especially since all of their films received a theatrical release. I'm talking about the ones that only the most hardcore horror folks will notice such as "Puppet Master," with over 15 films, and "The Amityville Horror," which goes well over 30. But if you look way out into a Midwestern cornfield, you'll see "Children of the Corn” still chomping away at the cob with over 10 films, and an eleventh coming from seemingly out of nowhere.

According to a report from Deadline, RLJE Films and Shudder will finally release the "Children of the Corn" remake from director Kurt Wimmer ("Equilibrium"). The film is set for a limited 18-day theatrical release on March 3, 2023, before it hits the horror streaming service, in addition to a VOD release on March 21, 2023. The synopsis indicates a slightly different spin on the Stephen King novella of the same name:

"Children of the Corn" follows a 12 year old girl in Nebraska who is possessed by a spirit in a dying cornfield. She recruits the other children in her small town to go on a bloody rampage and kill all the adults and anyone else who opposes her. A bright high schooler who won't go along with the plan is the town's only hope of survival.

What's really weird about this film's release is that it already got one, before it was locked away for a couple of years. But given when it tried to come out, it's not too surprising.

Wimmer's "Children of the Corn" was among the many productions that were getting things underway as the pandemic was first starting. According to a report from The Herald Tribune, rather than delay the shoot, they just went right on ahead with the Australian production. Safety protocols were implemented up until filming was completed in May 2020, with no one falling ill. 

Now here's where things get strange.

Seeing as most theaters were understandably closed, in October 2020, "Children of the Corn" producer Lucas Foster decided to release it in only two locations in Sarasota County, Florida. "We're kind of trying it out on a regional basis on a number of screens, and seeing if we can convince people that we can make it safe," Foster said. It was, indeed, not safe. I'm actually kind of surprised the film wasn't even considered for a drive-in release, where independent labels were thriving at the time.

I presume the rollout plan didn't go as anticipated, given that the film was later pushed back to an undisclosed fall 2022 release date, which also ended up not happening. But it looks like the folks at RLJE and Shudder have rescued it from obscurity. "Children of the Corn" will mark the third film in the series to get a theatrical release, after they started going direct-to-video starting with "Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest." This won't even mark the series' first remake, as there was already one that premiered on SyFy back in 2009, which also goes by "Children of the Corn."