The Grudge franchise gets a new director

It can’t be easy stepping into the shoes of someone who has defined an entire franchise. Think of the poor blighter who gets to follow Sam Raimi on Spider-Man. Or the person responsible for making sure The Simpsons stays funny (bit more work needed there, folks).

So you can imagine the pressure that director Toby Wilkins must be feeling right now as Raimi has tapped him to take over directing duties on the latest outing of The Grudge.

Takashi Shimizu has been the man responsible for the majority of both the Japanese and American films in the Grudge series, but now Wilkins is sitting in the big chair. It’s not like it’s his first time – he’s finishing off a horror movie called Splinter for ContentFilm and also worked on a series of Tales Of The Grudge shorts that were shot in support of The Grudge 2. Oh, and that’s without mentioning the nifty shorts he’s made over the years.

There’s no word yet on what the plot will be – well, we’re assuming another unsuspecting person will be terrorised by malignant spirits, but Wilkins will start shooting in January.