Robert Pattinson to Officially Produce Sam Neill’s Horror Masterpiece Remake 45 Years Later

45 years later, Possession is being remade, with Robert Pattinson attached as a producer. Andrzej Żuławski’s horror flick is the kind of film people warn you about before they recommend it. Released in 1981, the Polish director’s West Berlin nightmare starred Sam Neill as Mark, a spy who returns home from a job to find his wife Anna, played brilliantly by Isabelle Adjani, asking for a divorce.

What begins as a marriage falling apart curdles into something far uglier. There is murder, doppelgängers, and a tentacled creature hidden away in a rundown apartment. Żuławski wrote the script while his own marriage was collapsing, and that rawness bleeds through every frame.

Critics were split in 1981, and the film was cut and banned in several countries. It took decades for audiences to catch up. Today it sits comfortably on lists of the greatest horror films ever made. Adjani won Best Actress at Cannes and a César for a performance that still feels impossible to watch, let alone repeat.

Paramount won a bidding war for the remake project in 2024 with Smile director Parker Finn set to write and direct, and Pattinson producing through his company Icki Eneo Arlo.

Why Robert Pattinson Is Backing One of Horror’s Riskiest Remakes

Robert Pattinson has spent the years since Twilight hunting down the strangest scripts he can find, from Good Time and The Lighthouse to Mickey 17. When he takes on a producer credit, a Possession remake fits that pattern neatly. It is still a major gamble as a project.

For a lot of film fans, Possession is simply untouchable, and the reason is Isabelle Adjani. Her performance, especially in the subway sequence, is the sort of thing actors describe as unrepeatable. She has also spoken publicly about how badly the shoot affected her and how hard Żuławski pushed her on set. It makes the idea of asking another actress to go there again uncomfortable for many viewers.

So why take it on at all? Because Parker Finn has earned the shot. Smile cost roughly $17 million and grossed over $217 million worldwide, and Paramount moved quickly to lock him into a first-look deal. He has called Żuławski’s original one of his “absolute favourite films of all time,” and has promised a version that keeps the original’s ferocity while going somewhere new with it (via EW). He is shooting on 35mm rather than digital.

What We Know About the Possession Remake

Robert Pattinson as Antinous in The Odyssey | Credits: Universal Pictures

The cast has come together fast. Margaret Qualley takes on Anna, the role Isabelle Adjani originated, opposite Callum Turner as Mark. Paul Dano joined in June 2026, and Deadline reported in July that Babylon star Diego Calva had signed on.

Madeline Brewer, Emory Cohen, and Nicholas Alexander Chavez followed shortly after. Paramount has not confirmed who any of the supporting cast are playing, and no official synopsis has been released. But cameras started rolling on the movie in July, with Qualley seen running around in a black costume as Anna (via Digital Spy).

Behind the camera, Parker Finn is writing, directing, and producing through his Bad Feeling banner alongside Jonathan Fass. Roy Lee and Andrew Childs produce through Vertigo Entertainment, and Pattinson through Icki Eneo Arlo, with Marc Bienstock executive producing.

The production also carries an unexpected weight with Sam Neill’s passing on 13 July 2026 at the age of 78, just as the remake of his most extreme film was getting underway.

What do you think of this Robert Pattinson-backed remake? Let us know in the comments below!

Possession (1981) is now streaming on Philo, Kanopy, and AMC+.