There’s something special about the sci-fi horror movies of the 1950s and ’60s. The effects may look rough by today’s standards, and tight budgets often meant filmmakers had to get creative to bring their wildest ideas to life. Still, these movies have a charm that’s impossible to replicate, and they remain a big part of horror history.
One of the era’s most memorable creature features is 1954’s THEM!, which turned the humble ant into a nightmare on a monstrous scale. We told you a few weeks back that a remake was in the works, and now we have a little more news straight from the filmmaker himself.
Michael Giacchino, the composer and director behind Marvel’s Werewolf by Night, is still hoping to bring the giant ant classic back to the big screen. The project was announced in 2023, but progress has been slow, leaving fans wondering whether the remake would ever get off the ground.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Giacchino explained that scheduling conflicts and the recent Warner Bros. and Paramount merger have contributed to the delays. His hope is that the movie will ultimately get made.
Michael Giacchino: “Now that the dust is sort of settling, we’re re-getting into it and my hope is that, yes, this is a movie that will get made and we’re doing the best we can.“
That’s encouraging news for a project that has spent several years largely out of the spotlight. In 2025, it was also revealed that The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves had joined the project as a producer.
WATCH THE ORIGINAL TRAILER FOR “THEM!” BELOW
The original THEM! followed a New Mexico community terrorized by giant ants mutated by radiation from atomic testing. Like Godzilla, the film tapped into the anxieties of the nuclear age, using a larger-than-life monster to explore the terrifying consequences of humanity’s own creations.
For Giacchino, though, the story has another layer. When the remake was first announced, he explained that the idea of “the other” and the unknown was central to what made the title so compelling. He also revealed that his take on THEM! would explore immigration through the lens of an outrageous science fiction monster movie.
It’s an intriguing direction for a classic that already has plenty to say beneath its giant-ant mayhem. Whether the new film can capture the spirit of the original while bringing its themes into the present remains to be seen.