THE story of Dorothy’s epic journey on the yellow brick road, with a Scarecrow, a Tin Man and a Cowardly Lion, helped bring a smile to the face of millions in a world on the brink of war.
Now, exactly 70 years after its release in August 1939, with the world in the grip of recession and British troops facing mounting casualties in Afghanistan, a Wizard of Oz sequel is being planned.
Filming could start next year – possibly in the UK – and 15-year-old Dakota Fanning, the acclaimed actress from Steven Spielberg’s War Of The Worlds and Charlotte’s Web, is being tipped to step into Judy Garland’s shoes and send her career soaring over the rainbow. But the new movie will be “darker and more action-packed” according to one Warner Bros executive.
It is the brainchild of producer Basil Iwanyk, who explained: “It will be set in the present day and feature Dorothy’s granddaughter.”
Co-producer Todd McFarlane said: “You’ve still got Dorothy trapped in an odd place, but she’s much closer to the Ripley character from Alien [Sigourney Weaver] than a helpless singing girl.”
The original movie was based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and it made an instant star of 16-year-old Judy Garland.
Over the Rainbow won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the film was voted Best Picture. It was not a big commercial success, however, barely recouping its then huge production costs of $2.8million.
It has, of course, since become a television favourite and re-releases have earned it a fortune.
The favourable exchange rate against the dollar, plus the host of Harry Potter technicians and special-effects experts available, make Britain an attractive proposition for the project.
Source: Daily Express
Showing posts with label 80's horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 80's horror. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Buffy The Vampire Slayer (2011)
Hollywood is developing a big screen reboot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer without Buffy creator Joss Whedon. Did you hear that? its the simultaneous gasp of Buffy fanboys (and fangirls) worldwide.
Fran Rubel Kuzui, who directed the original 1992 movie which spawned the television series, is developing the relaunch with Vertigo Entertainment. The characters and canon created in the television series will be completely abandoned.
According to Reuters, the goal would be to “make a darker, event-sized movie” with “franchise potential.” The story would follow a new vampire slayer who must step up to protect the new generation. Kuzui says the the new movie will hopefully take “Buffy into a new place.” The parties won’t rule out Whedon’s involvement, but are currently meeting with writers and hearing pitches.
I have yet to really give the television series a chance, but everyone I know with geek cred swears by it. I never thought that the concept was anything really special. It seems to me that Whedon’s characters and character development elevated the show above other typical genre series. And a big screen movie or television show without his involvement would most likely suck.
Slashfilm
Fran Rubel Kuzui, who directed the original 1992 movie which spawned the television series, is developing the relaunch with Vertigo Entertainment. The characters and canon created in the television series will be completely abandoned.
According to Reuters, the goal would be to “make a darker, event-sized movie” with “franchise potential.” The story would follow a new vampire slayer who must step up to protect the new generation. Kuzui says the the new movie will hopefully take “Buffy into a new place.” The parties won’t rule out Whedon’s involvement, but are currently meeting with writers and hearing pitches.
I have yet to really give the television series a chance, but everyone I know with geek cred swears by it. I never thought that the concept was anything really special. It seems to me that Whedon’s characters and character development elevated the show above other typical genre series. And a big screen movie or television show without his involvement would most likely suck.
Slashfilm
Fright Night (2010)
At the beginning of this year it was rumored that Sony was looking to do a remake of the 1985 movie, Fright Night, and I was hovering, waiting for the official news. But alas, they couldn’t find a decent enough script and nothing came of it.
That’s all changed now that vampires are in vogue on the silver screen. Everyone is turning everything into a vampire. I’m just waiting for someone to turn Snow White into a vampire and call it an alternate origins movie. (And we thought it was crazy last year?)
Well the Fright Night remake is in the works - DreamWorks that is.
The original Fright Night was written and directed by Tom Holland and was coined a horror comedy. It was about a teenager named Charley Brewster who discovers that his neighbor is a vampire, and no one believes him. You couldn’t blame anyone though, Charley had a very whiney way of conveying his issues.
For the remake, no writer has yet been attached, but the studio says they’re looking to keep the comedy-horror tone while modernizing the effects. That’s intense, considering the effects were not bad for its day. I think that the effects were good then and they would stand up today compared to most small screen efforts.
Michael Gaeta and Alison Rosenzweig of Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films are producing the Fright Night remake along with Michael De Luca.
DreamWorks rarely covers the horror genre and can you blame them? They didn’t have a ton of success with The Uninvited or The Ruins, but they keep eyeballing the monetary success they had with the remake of The Ring and it’s sequel, both of which grossed the studio $390 million worldwide. Everyone is looking for that independent mega-hit.
The co-president of production for DreamWorks, Mark Sourian is overseeing the Fright Night remake.
In this era of remakes, I’m not sure about sticking to the original outline of horror comedy. Sure it had moments, but I never saw it with the twinge of comedy. Are they trying to save face by adding comedy to the label? The movie had it’s drab moments but the active moments of character confrontations from the film scarred me for life (in a good way!) and I have a fondness for a movie that allows me to watch it again, and again.
To be honest, if they took the tone that The Ring brought us and overlay it on the original story we’d have a pretty intense remake that might improve on the original. But then would the remake stand out amongst the hundreds of remakes and vampire movies oozing out of the dark shadows of studios these days? Unless they got lucky, and landed Alex O’Loughlin who not only has vampire experience on his resume, but an incredible range of character delivery skills.
I presume that they would need top notch talent heading the project for O’Loughlin to join. (I can dream, can’t I?) No offense to the creative team in place, but I’m not seeing much in the way of experience as they’ll need to follow in their production partners footsteps, that of Micheal De Luca. De Luca has experience, but if you’ve seen The Love Guru or Ghost Rider, then you see why I’m not holding my breath.
Let’s see if they land a good writer. Maybe we twist it up and get Joss Whedon on this one? (That’s me dreaming again.) In the meantime, who do you think would fit the different parts from the old movie, in today’s list of available acting talent? Megan Fox can play Amy. All Amy does is get hypnotized and walk around in a trance once the movie gets rolling! And we’d love to watch Megan do that!
Screen Rant
That’s all changed now that vampires are in vogue on the silver screen. Everyone is turning everything into a vampire. I’m just waiting for someone to turn Snow White into a vampire and call it an alternate origins movie. (And we thought it was crazy last year?)
Well the Fright Night remake is in the works - DreamWorks that is.
The original Fright Night was written and directed by Tom Holland and was coined a horror comedy. It was about a teenager named Charley Brewster who discovers that his neighbor is a vampire, and no one believes him. You couldn’t blame anyone though, Charley had a very whiney way of conveying his issues.
For the remake, no writer has yet been attached, but the studio says they’re looking to keep the comedy-horror tone while modernizing the effects. That’s intense, considering the effects were not bad for its day. I think that the effects were good then and they would stand up today compared to most small screen efforts.
Michael Gaeta and Alison Rosenzweig of Gaeta/Rosenzweig Films are producing the Fright Night remake along with Michael De Luca.
DreamWorks rarely covers the horror genre and can you blame them? They didn’t have a ton of success with The Uninvited or The Ruins, but they keep eyeballing the monetary success they had with the remake of The Ring and it’s sequel, both of which grossed the studio $390 million worldwide. Everyone is looking for that independent mega-hit.
The co-president of production for DreamWorks, Mark Sourian is overseeing the Fright Night remake.
In this era of remakes, I’m not sure about sticking to the original outline of horror comedy. Sure it had moments, but I never saw it with the twinge of comedy. Are they trying to save face by adding comedy to the label? The movie had it’s drab moments but the active moments of character confrontations from the film scarred me for life (in a good way!) and I have a fondness for a movie that allows me to watch it again, and again.
To be honest, if they took the tone that The Ring brought us and overlay it on the original story we’d have a pretty intense remake that might improve on the original. But then would the remake stand out amongst the hundreds of remakes and vampire movies oozing out of the dark shadows of studios these days? Unless they got lucky, and landed Alex O’Loughlin who not only has vampire experience on his resume, but an incredible range of character delivery skills.
I presume that they would need top notch talent heading the project for O’Loughlin to join. (I can dream, can’t I?) No offense to the creative team in place, but I’m not seeing much in the way of experience as they’ll need to follow in their production partners footsteps, that of Micheal De Luca. De Luca has experience, but if you’ve seen The Love Guru or Ghost Rider, then you see why I’m not holding my breath.
Let’s see if they land a good writer. Maybe we twist it up and get Joss Whedon on this one? (That’s me dreaming again.) In the meantime, who do you think would fit the different parts from the old movie, in today’s list of available acting talent? Megan Fox can play Amy. All Amy does is get hypnotized and walk around in a trance once the movie gets rolling! And we’d love to watch Megan do that!
Screen Rant
Mother's Day (2010)
Saw series helmer Darren Lynn Bousman will direct a remake of the 1980 Troma cult classic exploitation slasher film Mother’s Day. You might remember, Bousman told Brendon at Frightfest that his next film would be Mother’s Day. Well now it’s official.
The original Charles Kaufman film told the story of three women who go on a camping trip and encounter two brothers who rape and kill to impress their deranged mother. The Scott Milam-scripted remake sees the messed-up family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new owners and their guests.
“She lost her house, and her boys are going to get it back to her,” producer Richard Saperstein tells THR. Apparently the plan is to set this home invasion in a very realistic setting, with the “high-concept overlay” of “this punishing maternal figure.” I know a lot of people like to write-off the Saw films as nothing more than torture-porn, but I’ve always believed that Bousman has a great visual eye. He sometimes becomes hampered by MTV-style editing, but I’m interested to see what he can do with a project set in a more realistic tone.
The original film was made on a very low budget of only $150,000, and wasn’t well received at the time of its release. The movie gained a cult following on home video, and to this day is still banned in the UK. And if you’re wondering, yes, Charles Kaufman is the brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder and Toxic Avenger director Lloyd Kaufman. The remake is aiming to begin production in July with Mother’s Day 2010 release (of course).
Slashfilm
The original Charles Kaufman film told the story of three women who go on a camping trip and encounter two brothers who rape and kill to impress their deranged mother. The Scott Milam-scripted remake sees the messed-up family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new owners and their guests.
“She lost her house, and her boys are going to get it back to her,” producer Richard Saperstein tells THR. Apparently the plan is to set this home invasion in a very realistic setting, with the “high-concept overlay” of “this punishing maternal figure.” I know a lot of people like to write-off the Saw films as nothing more than torture-porn, but I’ve always believed that Bousman has a great visual eye. He sometimes becomes hampered by MTV-style editing, but I’m interested to see what he can do with a project set in a more realistic tone.
The original film was made on a very low budget of only $150,000, and wasn’t well received at the time of its release. The movie gained a cult following on home video, and to this day is still banned in the UK. And if you’re wondering, yes, Charles Kaufman is the brother of Troma Entertainment co-founder and Toxic Avenger director Lloyd Kaufman. The remake is aiming to begin production in July with Mother’s Day 2010 release (of course).
Slashfilm
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)
Fango got a chance to speak with Kyle Gallner, the young actor from THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (out on DVD and Blu-ray from Lionsgate next month) who is currently squaring off with Freddy Krueger in the remake of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. He’s playing Quentin (described as the equivalent of Johnny Depp’s original NIGHTMARE role) in the film, which is being directed by Samuel Bayer and targeting an April 16, 2010 release date from New Line.
“We’re a little over halfway done shooting,” Gallner tells us of NIGHTMARE, which we last reported on here. “It’s a very different role in a very different movie from HAUNTING. I show up to work one day, and all of a sudden I’m face to face with Freddy Krueger and running for my life. It’s a cool experience.”
Gallner confirms that Quentin “would be the equivalent of the Johnny Depp character from the first one,” i.e. the boyfriend of heroine Nancy, played here by Rooney Mara. He adds, however, that the conception of his part is quite different. “The movie kind of relies on these two antiheroes, me and Nancy,” he explains. “We’re definitely not your average horror-movie heroes. Quentin is rather confused and definitely has problems going on outside of the nightmare world, and Nancy does as well. There’s some cool character stuff going on that will be interesting for people to see. They’re two different people [from the first NIGHTMARE’s protagonists]; I’m not in a cutoff football jersey. But there are also definitely going to be some shoutouts to the original—a couple of lines and shots and stuff that people will see and go, ‘Oh yeah, there it is.’ A few of the iconic shots from [Wes Craven’s] movie are definitely going to appear in ours as well.”
Despite what some might expect from a 21st-century NIGHTMARE reboot, the actor says that the horrific dreamscapes won’t be completely reliant on digital trickery. “I don’t think there’s going to be a ton of CGI,” he says. “Sam is a very visual director, so he’s doing a lot with great lighting and camera tricks. It has a very specific feel and tone to it, and most of that will be due to really good makeup and camerawork and that kind of thing.”
The key makeup effect, of course, is Freddy himself, played by WATCHMEN’s Jackie Earle Haley, whom Gallner describes as “great, and a really nice guy” off camera. “It’s kind of funny to be hanging out on set, he’s sitting in his chair in his Freddy face and we’re chitchatting away, and then you get on set and all of a sudden he turns it on. As soon as he does that, he’s a completely different animal, and it’s genuinely creepy to do scenes with him. There was one scene I did with him the other night where we were just face to face, and it was pretty unnerving. I actually got creeped out. His makeup looks terrific; it’s definitely Freddy.”
And Gallner adds that this Krueger will hark back to the sinister, straight-faced monster he began as, rather than the jokester he became in the later sequels. “It’s played a little straighter,” the actor says. “I mean, there are still going to be some throwbacks to the other films—you’ve gotta keep a couple of the one-liners—but for the most part, it’s going to be a little more real, a little more raw. I believe it’ll be more disturbing than the original.” Look for more comments from Gallner on his many fright features (including the upcoming JENNIFER’S BODY) at this site soon, and keep your eyes here and on the pages of FANGORIA magazine for more on the new NIGHTMARE!
Fangoria
“We’re a little over halfway done shooting,” Gallner tells us of NIGHTMARE, which we last reported on here. “It’s a very different role in a very different movie from HAUNTING. I show up to work one day, and all of a sudden I’m face to face with Freddy Krueger and running for my life. It’s a cool experience.”
Gallner confirms that Quentin “would be the equivalent of the Johnny Depp character from the first one,” i.e. the boyfriend of heroine Nancy, played here by Rooney Mara. He adds, however, that the conception of his part is quite different. “The movie kind of relies on these two antiheroes, me and Nancy,” he explains. “We’re definitely not your average horror-movie heroes. Quentin is rather confused and definitely has problems going on outside of the nightmare world, and Nancy does as well. There’s some cool character stuff going on that will be interesting for people to see. They’re two different people [from the first NIGHTMARE’s protagonists]; I’m not in a cutoff football jersey. But there are also definitely going to be some shoutouts to the original—a couple of lines and shots and stuff that people will see and go, ‘Oh yeah, there it is.’ A few of the iconic shots from [Wes Craven’s] movie are definitely going to appear in ours as well.”
Despite what some might expect from a 21st-century NIGHTMARE reboot, the actor says that the horrific dreamscapes won’t be completely reliant on digital trickery. “I don’t think there’s going to be a ton of CGI,” he says. “Sam is a very visual director, so he’s doing a lot with great lighting and camera tricks. It has a very specific feel and tone to it, and most of that will be due to really good makeup and camerawork and that kind of thing.”
The key makeup effect, of course, is Freddy himself, played by WATCHMEN’s Jackie Earle Haley, whom Gallner describes as “great, and a really nice guy” off camera. “It’s kind of funny to be hanging out on set, he’s sitting in his chair in his Freddy face and we’re chitchatting away, and then you get on set and all of a sudden he turns it on. As soon as he does that, he’s a completely different animal, and it’s genuinely creepy to do scenes with him. There was one scene I did with him the other night where we were just face to face, and it was pretty unnerving. I actually got creeped out. His makeup looks terrific; it’s definitely Freddy.”
And Gallner adds that this Krueger will hark back to the sinister, straight-faced monster he began as, rather than the jokester he became in the later sequels. “It’s played a little straighter,” the actor says. “I mean, there are still going to be some throwbacks to the other films—you’ve gotta keep a couple of the one-liners—but for the most part, it’s going to be a little more real, a little more raw. I believe it’ll be more disturbing than the original.” Look for more comments from Gallner on his many fright features (including the upcoming JENNIFER’S BODY) at this site soon, and keep your eyes here and on the pages of FANGORIA magazine for more on the new NIGHTMARE!
Fangoria
American Werewolf in London (20??)
After teasing the possibilities to Bloody-Disgusting last June, news comes in exclusively to B-D from a regular tipster that writer/director John Landis has sold the remake rights for An American Werewolf In London to Dimension Films. As Halloween II makes its way into theaters, the Weinstein brothers are hard at work at getting the Hellraiser remake off the ground and now will be retelling the story of two American tourists in England who are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists. I wonder how they'll ruin this? Any guesses? Two hot American tourists with big boobs in England....
Bloody Disgusting
Bloody Disgusting
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Last House On the Left (2009)
My favorite thing about the trailer for the remake of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT isn't the gratuitous disrobing, the exuberant violence, the bizarro version of "Sweet Child 'O Mine" or the intriguing cast (Tony Goldwyn, Garret Dillahunt, Monica Potter, some hotties).
It's that the marketing people have conveniently condensed the entire film to two and a half minutes, thereby freeing up the other 90 minutes I might have otherwise spent watching it.
The movie is, of course, the remake of Wes Craven's early, raw tale of bad people doing seriously nasty things. Director Dennis Iliadis handles the thugs and rape and murder and vengeance for Rogue Pictures' redo.
Source: joblo.com
How It Fared:
Budget: $??M
Box Office: $37M
The Audience Speaks:
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 69/100
Metacritic Rating: 42/100
Overall: C
It's that the marketing people have conveniently condensed the entire film to two and a half minutes, thereby freeing up the other 90 minutes I might have otherwise spent watching it.
The movie is, of course, the remake of Wes Craven's early, raw tale of bad people doing seriously nasty things. Director Dennis Iliadis handles the thugs and rape and murder and vengeance for Rogue Pictures' redo.
Source: joblo.com
How It Fared:
Budget: $??M
Box Office: $37M
The Audience Speaks:
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 69/100
Metacritic Rating: 42/100
Overall: C
Friday the 13th (2009)
You know the time is almost at hand for our latest trip to Camp Crystal Lake so that means you can expect to get blitzed with stills, trailers, TV spots, etc., a bunch of which were just released today!
Filmz.ru have landed themselves a pretty big haul in terms of stills. Dozens even! Click the above link to check them out.
If stills aren't your thing and you're down for some quick TV spots, The Movie Box has just added a few to its YouTube channel. Hit that link to dig on them.
With My Bloody Valentine 3D doing bank this weekend, hopes are high for Friday and a profitable return to R-rated horror!
Friday the 13th opens in theaters February 13th, 2009.
Source: Dreadcentral.com
How It Fared:
Budget: $19M
Box Office: $91M
The Audience Speaks:
IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 62/100
Metacritic Rating: 34/100
Overall: F
Filmz.ru have landed themselves a pretty big haul in terms of stills. Dozens even! Click the above link to check them out.
If stills aren't your thing and you're down for some quick TV spots, The Movie Box has just added a few to its YouTube channel. Hit that link to dig on them.
With My Bloody Valentine 3D doing bank this weekend, hopes are high for Friday and a profitable return to R-rated horror!
Friday the 13th opens in theaters February 13th, 2009.
Source: Dreadcentral.com
How It Fared:
Budget: $19M
Box Office: $91M
The Audience Speaks:
IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 62/100
Metacritic Rating: 34/100
Overall: F
My Bloody Valentine (2009)
Chuck The Movie guy interviews actor Kerr Smith who plays Axel Palmer in the upcoming remake “My Bloody Valentine 3-D” by director Patrick Lussier and starring Jensen Ackles, Jaime King, Kerr Smith, Edi Gathegi and Andrew Larson.
Synopsis: Ten years ago, a tragedy changed the town of Harmony forever. Tom Hanniger, an inexperienced coal miner, caused an accident in the tunnels that trapped and killed five men and sent the only survivor, Harry Warden, into a permanent coma. But Harry Warden wanted revenge. Exactly one year later, on Valentine’s Day, he woke up…and brutally murdered twenty-two people with a pickaxe before being killed.
Ten years later, Tom Hanniger returns to Harmony on Valentine’s Day, still haunted by the deaths he caused. Struggling to make amends with his past, he grapples with unresolved feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Sarah, who is now married to his best friend, Axel, the town sheriff. But tonight, after years of peace, something from Harmony’s dark past has returned. Wearing a miner’s mask and armed with a pickaxe, an unstoppable killer is on the loose. And as his footsteps come ever closer, Tom, Sarah and Axel realize in terror that it just might be Harry Warden who’s come back to claim them…
Source: Shockya.com
How It Fared:
Budget: $15M
Box Office: $76M
The Audience Speaks:
IMDB Rating: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 70/100
Metacritic Rating: 51/100
Overall: F
Synopsis: Ten years ago, a tragedy changed the town of Harmony forever. Tom Hanniger, an inexperienced coal miner, caused an accident in the tunnels that trapped and killed five men and sent the only survivor, Harry Warden, into a permanent coma. But Harry Warden wanted revenge. Exactly one year later, on Valentine’s Day, he woke up…and brutally murdered twenty-two people with a pickaxe before being killed.
Ten years later, Tom Hanniger returns to Harmony on Valentine’s Day, still haunted by the deaths he caused. Struggling to make amends with his past, he grapples with unresolved feelings for his ex-girlfriend, Sarah, who is now married to his best friend, Axel, the town sheriff. But tonight, after years of peace, something from Harmony’s dark past has returned. Wearing a miner’s mask and armed with a pickaxe, an unstoppable killer is on the loose. And as his footsteps come ever closer, Tom, Sarah and Axel realize in terror that it just might be Harry Warden who’s come back to claim them…
Source: Shockya.com
How It Fared:
Budget: $15M
Box Office: $76M
The Audience Speaks:
IMDB Rating: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 70/100
Metacritic Rating: 51/100
Overall: F
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Troll (20??)
Buechler Wants You for the Troll Remake
Source:ShockTillYouDrop.com
December 17, 2008
Listen up. John Carl Buechler's going to be embarking on his long-mooted remake of Troll, er, sometime soon-ish and he's now casting up. Think you got the chops to star? Well, watch the video below and follow the specific directions Buechler provides. The man says it all, so I'll shut up and let 'im speak...
Source: Shock till you drop
Source:ShockTillYouDrop.com
December 17, 2008
Listen up. John Carl Buechler's going to be embarking on his long-mooted remake of Troll, er, sometime soon-ish and he's now casting up. Think you got the chops to star? Well, watch the video below and follow the specific directions Buechler provides. The man says it all, so I'll shut up and let 'im speak...
Source: Shock till you drop
The Thing (2011)
Universal will add a new chapter to "The Thing," lining up another take on the paranoid horror classic most recently brought to the screen by John Carpenter in 1982.
Studio has set "Battlestar Galactica" exec producer Ron Moore to write the script and commercials director Matthijs Van Heijningen to direct the re-imagining.
New project borrows heavily from the John W. Campbell Jr. short story "Who Goes There," the basis of the Carpenter film and 1951 Howard Hawks original "The Thing From Another World."
Source: Variety
Studio has set "Battlestar Galactica" exec producer Ron Moore to write the script and commercials director Matthijs Van Heijningen to direct the re-imagining.
New project borrows heavily from the John W. Campbell Jr. short story "Who Goes There," the basis of the Carpenter film and 1951 Howard Hawks original "The Thing From Another World."
Source: Variety
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