‘The Blob’ Remake Absorbs Samuel L. Jackson

If you were not very interested in Simon West’s remake/origin story of The Blob, you may have a reason to be a bit more interested now because Samuel L. Jackson has joined the cast. Jackson has a particular set of enthusiastic skills that make him quite perfect for campy material — now we just cross our fingers and hope this new Blob movie is like the amorphous alien version of Deep Blue Sea.

According to Deadline, Jackson is the first to join the cast of West’s The Blob, which has been previously described as a sci-fi thriller which will explore the origins of the giant, human-consuming alien. Jackson will play a biochemistry professor who tries to find a way to stop the mysterious and relentless creature.

The Blob is based on the 1958 film, in which a small town is terrorized by a gelatinous alien, which grows in size as it consumes more and more people. A remake was released 30 years later, in 1988, starring Kevin Dillon.

West, who is best known for directing Con Air, previously explained that his version of the blob creature will be more “sophisticated,” and the film will have more of a scientific slant:

My version of The Blob’s going to be more sci-fi….The blob itself will be more sophisticated, more along the lines of Alien and Predator and things like that – much more science-based, the way Jurassic Park made you believe you could bring back dinosaurs with a bit of DNA from a mosquito. This will be much more explained on where the blob comes from and how it works. It’ll be a much more sophisticated creature – because it is a monster movie rather than a horror in that sense.

Jackson’s role seems in keeping with this approach, although West is making some hefty comparisons to his project in the quote above. West’s remake is set for release sometime in 2016.