After years in development there’s suddenly been some movement on the remake of The Day of the Triffids, producers Mark Gordon, Don Murphy, Susan Montford and Sam Raimi have set their collective sights on director Mike Newell to bring the Triffids to the big screen.

Based on John Wyndham’s classic book, the story centers on the events following a meteor shower that blinds 99% of the population of Earth and the rise of flesh eating Triffids that are dominating the planet. 

The script for the remake is being written by Luthor creator Neil Cross who has plenty of experience with otherwordly having scribed episodes of Doctor Who and last year’s horror movie hit Mama. This will be the first time since 1962 that a movie adaptation has been made, there’s been two BBC mini-series over the years with the most recent being the 2009 version that featured Eddie Izzard, Vanesa Redgrave and Joely Richardson.

At a first glance Mike Newell might not appear like an obvious choice, a quick peak at his CV reveals he’s actually a very solid choice with his well measured dramatic work (Donnie Brasco, Four Weddings and a Funeral) and special effects driven blockbuster (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). So, Newell clearly has the right balance to handle the material so lets hope that with some love and care the seeds for a good movie are being sown.