According to Variety, looking to scare up another horror remake hit, Platinum Dunes has made a deal with Focus Features to redo 1986 pic The Hitcher. The film will be released through Focus' genre label, Rogue Pictures.

The deal marks the third remake for Platinum Dunes since it was formed by Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller to hatch low-cost genre fare. Shingle began with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and continued with The Amityville Horror, both of which outgrossed their negative costs in their opening weekends. Amityville Horror, which cost $19 million, finished its opening frame at $23.3 million.

Originally directed by Robert Harmon, The Hitcher starred C. Thomas Howell as an ordinary teen who picks up the hitchhiker from hell, a role originated by Rutger Hauer. The serial killer torments the youth by implicating him in each of his crimes. Bay said saga fits the company template in that its premise offers a scare potential just as high with the current crop of teen moviegoers as it was when the original opened.

"Someone mentioned the title and I said, 'That's the one we should do,' " Bay said. "I loved it as a kid, and we can add some cool twists and turn it into a rocking film." One possibility, he suggested, is to make the protagonist female.