WB & Matt Reeves' Remake Of 72-Year-Old Sci-Fi Horror Classic Gets Exciting Update From Director

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Giacchino's Them! is regaining steam. The original 1954 sci-fi horror movie largely centered on characters in New Mexico who come under attack from nuclear mutated ants, with the military's investigation leading to the discovery of two young queens escaping and attempting to establish new colonies across the country. Marking one of the earlier entries into the nuclear monster subgenre, along with the original Godzilla and It Came from Beneath the Sea, Gordon Douglas' Them! remains a staple in the horror genre. Nearly 40 years after the original film's release, it was revealed that a Them! remake was in the works at Warner Bros, with Michael Giacchino attached to direct after making his shift into the director's chair with Marvel's Werewolf by Night Disney+ special. After a couple of years of silence, the last update for the film came in early 2025 when it was revealed that Matt Reeves, six of whose films he's composed scores for, had joined as a producer. Now, in an interview with ScreenRant's Tatiana Hullender on the AFI Fest red carpet, Giacchino was asked about an update on Them!'s development. The director/composer confirmed that he and the studio are "still pushing it forward," explaining that the delay in getting the sci-fi horror remake off the ground has been in part to "the mergers" and scheduling conflicts, but teased that the path is becoming clearer: 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. When the film was first announced, details were already fairly scarce on what Giacchino's Them! remake would look like, with the director indicating his plan was to make his version be an allegory for immigration compared to the anti-nuclear sentiment of the original. However, it's unclear if Giacchino has brought on a writer for the film yet, as the previous reports indicating he was meeting with writers to pen the movie came before the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike. Additionally, much to Giacchino's above point, both he and Warner Bros. have been busy in a variety of ways the past couple of years. The studio spent the past seven months having an acquisition from Paramount Skydance linger in flux from a federal antitrust suit and protests from various Hollywood creatives, only to finally complete it at the top of this month. Scratch & Peek Identify the cover art while scratching off as little foil as possible. As for Giacchino and Reeves, they've also been plenty busy with their various projects, with the latest being that of The Batman — Part II, reuniting them from the original DC hit. However, Reeves recently stepped away from production on the superhero sequel due to a family matter, with Steven Soderbergh having offered to help finish principal photography, while Giacchino has also been at work the past few years on scores for everything from The Fantastic Four: First Steps to the record-smashing Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the upcoming neo-noir mystery adventure Ray Gunn. With Giacchino's new comments indicating that he and the studio are putting their focus back into Them!, there is a very real chance that more concrete updates regarding the sci-fi horror classic, particularly who is writing it, could come in the very near future. However, with it also being his feature directorial debut, Giacchino is sure not to want to rush the development in order to get it just right. Release Date June 16, 1954 Runtime 94 minutes Director Gordon Douglas Writers Ted Sherdeman, Russell S. Hughes, George Worthing Yates Main Genre Horror