Summary

• Michelle Rodriguez's 2006 movie The Breed is receiving a remake from Curmudgeon Films and Daro Film Distribution.
• Producers Nathan and Griff Furst will direct the remake, with Grace Caroline Currey in the lead role.
• The movie has the opportunity to improve on the original, which was poorly received.

Michelle Rodriguez's poorly reviewed horror movie The Breed will be receiving a remake. The original 2006 title, which was produced by Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street director Wes Craven, followed a group of friends whose tranquil island vacation is ruined when they are attacked by a pack of genetically modified killer dogs. The cast of the movie, which has a 27% score on Rotten Tomatoes, also included Nashville's Oliver Hudson, Orange is the New Black's Taryn Manning, The L Word's Eric Lively, and The Good Doctor's Hill Harper.

Per Variety, The Breed is getting a remake from Curmudgeon Films alongside co-producer and financer Daro Film Distribution. Producers Nathan and Griff Furst will also be directing the remake of the killer dog movie. As The Brothers Furst, they previously helmed 2018's Nightmare Shark, though Griff has directed other animal attack titles including Lake Placid 3 and Alligator Alley. Fall's Grace Caroline Currey will play the lead role of Violet, a rebellious young woman on a mission to rescue abandoned dogs, which brings her to the isolated island where she will meet the evil canines.

The Breed Remake Could Improve On The Original Movie

Grace Caroline Currey Could Be The Breed's Secret Weapon

It is entirely possible that this remake of the early title from the future Fast X star could be a huge improvement. In addition to being poorly received by critics, the original movie was not a hit with audiences, as they collectively gave it a similarly Rotten score of 29%. If the new movie can modernize the original special effects and craft a more satisfying story around the core premise, it could turn the original title's fate on its head.

It is somewhat unusual for a horror remake to be presented with such a clear opportunity to outshine the original movie. The decision to produce a remake is largely driven by the original movie's name recognition rather than its quality. However, strong name recognition is frequently linked with high quality, at the very least in the original installments for any horror franchise, which is what has led many minted classics including A Nightmare on Elm Street and Black Christmas to receive remakes that were critical flops. Below, see some of Rotten Tomatoes' worst-reviewed horror remakes compared to the original titles:

The remake of The Breed avoids this issue by starting at a deficit, meaning that its score could potentially climb much higher and can only fall so far. The movie could also be perfectly timed to a general trend of audience interest in animal attack movies. Over the last decade, several entries in the genre have succeeded either critically, commercially, or both. In addition to shark movies like The Shallows, The Meg, or 47 Meters Down, this trend includes the 2019 alligator horror movie Crawl and the 2022 lion movie Beast.

The presence of Currey could also give the movie a huge boost. The star has already proven her ability to wring tension out of a survival movie premise with Fall, which earned a Certified Fresh 79% Rotten Tomatoes score from both critics and audiences and was a theatrical success that grossed $21.8 million against a $3 million budget. This was enough to earn the upcoming sequel Fall 2, and Currey and her co-star Virginia Gardner formed the entire core cast driving that success.

The Breed Remake Will Still Have To Overcome The Directors' Track Record

The Brothers Furst Have Made Several Rotten Creature Features

Although The Breed has every opportunity to be an improvement, one hurdle is the fact that the Brothers Furst have a track record of creating poorly received creature features. While Nathan has only helmed one of these movies with his brother, Griff's filmography is littered with critical flops. Although this includes an entry in the recognizable Lake Placid franchise, the majority of his movies are lesser-known original titles largely featuring unknown actors, several of which premiered on the Syfy channel. Below, see the Rotten Tomatoes critics and audience scores for every animal attack movie directed by Griff or the duo:

Although their 2018 collaboration was one of their best-rated entries yet, Griff Furst doesn't have a single Fresh animal attack movie to his name. In fact, the only movie that he ever directed that has received a Fresh score was the 2016 supernatural thriller Cold Moon. Although critics gave that movie 73%, audiences heartily disagreed, giving it 33%.

Because of this overall track record, it doesn't seem that The Breed has a particularly strong chance of winning over critics or audiences. However, it is at the very least entirely possible for the new remake to be better received than the original movie. That title earned worse scores across the board than Furst's two most recent animal attack features, which could be a sign that their trend of overall improvement could continue with the remake.

Source: Variety