As evidenced by breakout hits like M3GAN, horror-comedies have done well at the box office in recent years. 2025 alone is starting off strong, as there have already been two relatively successful horror-comedies. The first of these was Drew Hancock’s dark comedy Companion, which grossed $36.7 million on its $10 million budget during its February run. February also saw the release of the horror-comedy Stephen King adaptation film The Monkey. Being made on a $10 million budget, The Monkey ended up doing even better than Companion, raking in $68.3 million.

While the 21st-century horror comedy may be growing in popularity, the subgenre has been around for many decades. One notable era for horror comedy was the 1990s. This decade bred some iconic horror-comedies and spoof movies, an example being the 1997 Luis Llosa movie Anaconda. Anaconda is being remade for a modern audience this year, with a cast including Jack Black and Paul Rudd. Another ’90s horror-comedy was almost made by the Happy Death Day director, but production has now stopped.

Arachnophobia Is No Longer Being Remade

Its Stoppage Was Caused By Creative Differences

The remake of Arachnophobia is no longer in development. Arachnophobia was originally a 1990 horror-comedy about a new species of South American spider that accidentally makes its way to a California town. The film was directed by Frank Marshall and featured a leading cast including Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, John Goodman, Brian McNamara, and Stuart Pankin. The film was produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment. Decades after the Daniels-led film was released, an Arachnophobia remake was announced.

Per Vanity Fair, the Arachnophobia remake has now halted development. According to would-be director Christopher Landon, he and Amblin had a creative disagreement. Landon notes that “there was a component that the studio was very nervous about and uncomfortable with.” The director did not provide any more details about this contentious element. Regardless, this means that Arachnophobia is no longer in production. Check out the full quote from Landon below:

“There was a component that the studio was very nervous about and uncomfortable with—and that’s where we parted. I wasn’t willing to compromise on that. I wasn’t going to make a change that really felt like a soul-crushing, sell-out, bad change.”

What This Means For Arachnophobia

The Movie Could Have Been Close To Done

One unfortunate element of the Arachnophobia scrapping is that the script had already been completed. The movie’s development, made in collaboration with Landon and Amblin, was first announced almost three full years ago, in June 2022. By early 2023, Landon had completed the script. As such, if Amblin had not had the creative dispute with Landon, it would have been likely that the remake would come sooner rather than later. Instead, audiences will never get to see the bold choices that Landon wanted to make.

Source: Vanity Fair