Almost exactly one year ago today, we heard that real-life couple Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, along with Taran Killam (Meester’s co-star in the TV series Single Parents) would be starring in a reimagining of the 1991 thriller The River Wild, which starred Meryl Streep, David Straithairn, and Joseph Mazzello as a family that had the bad luck of crossing paths with criminals played by Kevin Bacon and John C. Reilly while on a river rafting trip. Now Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that they’ll be giving the reimagining, which drops the definite article and is simply called River Wild, a digital, Blu-ray, and DVD release on August 1st – and along with this announcement comes the unveiling of a trailer, which you can watch in the embed above!
Curtis Hanson directed the original The River Wild from a screenplay by Denis O’Neill (with uncredited revisions by Carrie Fisher). Ben Ketai (StartUp) directed the new film from a script he wrote with Mike Nguyen Le (Patient Zero). This time around, the story follows Joey (Meester), who fears there could be trouble ahead after her brother Gray (Killam) invites Trevor (Brody), a childhood friend with a troubled past, on their whitewater rafting adventure with two tourists. Once they become stranded in raging rapids, the thrill-seeking trip quickly turns from exciting to utterly terrifying as the rafters are trapped in a desperate fight for their lives, all while someone seems intent on sabotage to ensure shocking secrets stay buried. To survive the wild river, Joey will have to face her fears, and everyone will have to develop killer instincts before they’re torn apart by deception aboard the raft, or by deadly waters wreaking havoc all around them..
Ogden Gavanski produced the new River Wild with Anne-Marie Roberge and Daniel Kresmery. Jonathan Halperyn, Anita Juka, and Charlie Arneson co-produced.
I can’t say I ever expected The River Wild to get the reboot / remake / reimagining treatment, but the concept made for a good thriller the first time around, so it might work for another movie as well. What did you think of the trailer for the reimagining River Wild? Will you be watching this movie when it’s released next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.