A Remake of Them! starring Glen Powell?
Rumours are swirling online that a remake of this 1950s giant-insect monster film is on the way, with filmmakers interested in Glen Powell to star.
Them! is one of the many films from the post-WW2 nuclear-testing age featuring animals or insects mutated by radiation fallout from exploding atom bombs. Think Godzilla. There were many such movies at the time, featuring monsters ranging from spiders to grasshoppers, locusts, praying mantises, crabs, ants, and more. The original Them! was not based on an existing story or novel, and not on HG Wells’ Empire of the Ants. It was one of the first films about mutated bugs.
The original starred James Whitmore and James Arness, and featured a story about two ant queens leaving their colony to establish new ones in the New Mexico desert. Them! (1954) has a rating of 7.2 on IMDB with 27,000 ratings. The story, as per IMDB:
The earliest atomic tests in New Mexico cause common ants to mutate into giant man-eating monsters that threaten civilization.
There’s even more news, however — famed music composer Michael Giacchino (Star Trek 2009, Star Wars: Rogue One, Zootopia, Jurassic World: Dominion) is attached to direct.
Here is a scene of the ants revealed, as per YouTube channel Tralfazimus, and below that, a trailer from 1954, credit to YouTube channel Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers:
Here is a trailer for the film from way back in 1954:
This was first reported by Dread Central, and since then, many other sites are posting this news.
Although I have not seen the original, I have spoken to people who say this movie traumatized them as children. The fear of bugs — not to mention giant bugs — is a very real thing. Are you interested in this remake? Let me know in the comments below.
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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.
— Timothy S. Johnston, 28 April 2026
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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel
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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.
Book Cover & Jacket Copy:
AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!
A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …
Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.
And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.
Taunting him.
Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.
If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.
But the assassin could be anyone …
Watch your back, Mac.
A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.
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The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:
The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007
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THE WAR BENEATH: FIRST PLACE 2018 GLOBAL THRILLER Action / Adventure Category Winner, 2019 Silver Falchion Award Finalist, 2018 CLUE Award Semi-Finalist, 2019 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist, & 2019 CYGNUS Award Shortlister
THE SAVAGE DEEPS: FIRST PLACE 2020 CYGNUS Award Winner, 2019 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards Finalist, 2022 Kindle Book Awards Semi-Finalist; 2019 CLUE Award Shortlister
FATAL DEPTH: FIRST PLACE 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Award Winner, 2022 Silver Falchion Award Finalist (Best Action Adventure), 2021 CYGNUS Award Semi-Finalist
