Sony's Screen Gems and Spyglass are developing a reimagining of the 2001 Japanese horror film "Pulse", with Dave Boyle attached to direct, according to a Deadline exclusive. Boyle will also rework a script by Luke Piotrowski, with Parker Finn and Jonathan Fass producing through their company Bad Feeling alongside Spyglass, marking another entry in Hollywood's continued mining of acclaimed Japanese horror properties for English-language remakes.

The original "Pulse", directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, premiered to critical acclaim in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section and centred on young Tokyoites experiencing technological breakdowns and a mysterious website linked to vanishing colleagues and friends. Plot specifics for the new version remain undisclosed, though it will be set in the present day with an entirely new cast of characters. The announcement comes shortly before the release of Boyle's own supernatural horror film "Never After Dark", which won the Midnighter Audience Award at SXSW and hits US cinemas via Magnolia Pictures on 25 September; Boyle's background telling Japan-set or Japanese-themed stories, including "House of Ninjas" and "Tokyo Cowboy", makes him a fitting choice for the project.