Roxanne Benjamin finishes Night of the Comet remake script; hopes to direct

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

I don't know if you are aware, but XX and SOUTHBOUND director Roxanne Benjamin (see above) was hired by Orion Pictures to pen a remake of the 1984 sci-fi/comedy cult classic NIGHT OF THE COMET last year. And today we have word that she has finished the screenplay and is hoping to direct.

Benjamin says:

I actually turned in [the script] already. It's already done. I like making girl buddy movies. I'm really drawn to female relationships and the complexity of female relationships, and how they change. And how their interactions can be both, we're like terrible to each other and then we're loving to each other at the same time. I don't know. It's very complex, female relationships throughout your life. So that's just fascinating to me, in terms of how that works within a horror or genre setting, and I don't feel like we get that much out of our genre. It's always, it's the trope. It's the final girl. It's one girl on her own. Obviously [Body at Brighton Rock] has one girl, so I can't knock those kinds of movies, but that relationship in a scenario of the end of the world is fascinating to me. 

She continues: 

I love the movie, the first movie. There's so many great one-liners in that movie. The visuals are amazing and for a B horror movie of the time, I'm always shocked when people don't know about it, or haven't heard of it. It's very confusing to me because it's like you said you'd never heard of Weekend at Bernie's or something. I mean, most people have heard of that, right? It's not just me. I'm very excited about the prospect of that becoming a real thing.

Benjamin then puts out there that she hopes to direct the film:

That's the hope. I mean, I would love to direct it. And I wrote it in code so if they want the code, they'll have to let me direct it.

Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney starred in the original film as 

Teen sisters Regina and Samantha who, after a rare comet sighting, find that they're among the only survivors of a zombie attack. The girls partner with another survivor, Hector (Robert Beltran), but as they try to avoid the zombies, they're sought by scientists who want to experiment on their bodies in the hope of finding an antidote. Dodging both the doctors and the undead, they keep moving in the hope that they can continue to stay alive.

The original film was written and directed by Thom Eberhardt. Andrew Lane and Wayne Crawford produced. Stewart and Maroney's co-stars include Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell, Mary Woronov, and Geoffrey Lewis (THE DEVIL'S REJECTS). If you don't already own NIGHT OF THE COMET on Blu-ray you can snag a copy right HERE.