That Cube Remake Is Still Happening, And Lionsgate Is Looking For A New Direction

Vincenzo Natali's mind-bending cult classic "Cube" is a dark hidden gem. The 1997 film is a relentless, sci-fi-tinged horror story about five strangers trapped in a series of seemingly endless trap-rigged cubes. In 2015, Lionsgate began plotting out a "Cube" remake, but the film never came to fruition. Except, apparently, there's a chance it still might.

Bloody-Disgusting reports today that Lionsgate is still planning another "Cube" movie, but is looking for a new plot. According to the outlet, the studio is scrapping the plans it outlined in 2015 and accepting new pitches for the rebooted take on "Cube."

The earlier, never-realized remake, titled "Cubed," was set to be directed by Saman Kesh, who has helmed music videos for artists like Placebo, Calvin Harris, and Ed Sheeran. Prolific genre producer Roy Lee, whose upcoming slate includes re-imaginings of "Salem's Lot" and "Hellraiser," was set to produce the earlier iteration. Jon Spaihts, who wrote the new "Dune," was also set to produce.

It's not immediately clear whether any of these names will stay attached to the new version of the project, though Bloody-Disgusting says it's "starting from scratch." According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Lionsgate version briefly outlined in 2015 was pitched as a survival thriller about the digital age, with an artificial intelligence angle. With that idea apparently abandoned, let's hope the new version maintains some of the analog thrills of the original.

Despite being a micro-budget movie ("Cube" cost only $350,000 according to Natali), "Cube" clearly had a big influence on horror. Elements of the film are visible in violent, trap-heavy horror movies like the "Saw" franchise and the "Escape Room" films, which also see a group of strangers solving puzzles to get out of locked rooms that seem designed to kill them. It makes sense that "Cube" would need to be reworked in order to stand out in a horror niche that has already thoroughly replicated it in the decades since its release.

"Cube," with its bleak turns of fate and "The Twilight Zone"-like setup, has also inspired a sequel and prequel, both of which took creative approaches to a similar story. In "Cube 2: Hypercube," the already cerebral cube system took on a new level of difficulty when its occupants had to survive via abstract mathematical concepts. In "Cube Zero," the plot shifted perspective, to two men observing the cube game from the outside. Finally, the film got a stylish Japanese remake distributed by Shochiku just last year.

If Lionsgate can come up with a good enough story, there's definitely room for another "Cube" out there. The untitled "Cube" sequel currently does not have a release date.