Tag: Blumhouse

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Christopher Abbott Replaces Ryan Gosling In Universal’s New ‘Wolf Man’ Movie Coming October 2024 From ‘Invisible Man’ Director Leigh Whannell

Another modern remake of “The Wolf Man” had been in development at Blumhouse/Universal after the studio’s plans for a cinematic universe centered on their iconic Universal Monsters had been in the works but there is a bit of shakeup on the project. The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that both director Derek Cianfrance (“A Place Beyond The Pines”) and Ryan Gosling have exited “Wolf Man,” with replacements already found.

Actor Christopher Abbott (“Poor Things”) has been tapped to take over the lead role from Gosling and Aussie filmmaker Leigh Whannell (“Upgrade”) is back on the film after Cianfrance had been hired to take on directing duties. Whannell was behind Universal’s “Invisible Man,” a modern take on the H.G. Wells character with a domestic abuse spin that had a solid reception from both audiences and critics leading to the studio to assign the director for a remake of “The Wolf Man” next.

The script was penned by both Whannell and Corbett Tuck.

Abbott is no stranger to genre projects with a string of credits that include Brandon Cronenberg’s cyberpunk thriller “Possessor,” “Catch-22,” and most recently can be seen in the Frankenstein-inspired satire “Poor Things.”

Of course, the movie would focus on a man who is cursed with transforming into the Wolf Man during a full moon with deadly results. Oscar-winner Benedict Del Toro starred in the last incarnation helmed by Joe Johnston (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) which was released back in 2010 and used a mix of Rick Baker’s excellent practical makeup alongside wonky digital effects. “Wolf Man” already has a release date set for October 25, 2024, which means production is about to start soon.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News, News

Blumhouse Hopeful ‘Spawn’ Will Come Out In 2025 & Still Keen To Make A ‘Friday The 13th’ Movie

Blumhouse is obviously one of the bigger names in studio-made horror films and it doesn’t sound like they’re in any mood to end that string of success. What’s interesting are some of the various IP they’ve been trying to secure over the years such as their long-gestating live-action remake of the Image Comics character “Spawn.” A government assassin that becomes a soldier in Hell’s army, aka, a Hellspawn after a brutal execution at the hands of his black ops handlers. His last request is to return to Earth to see his wife one last time only to become a violent protector that goes up against the mob, crooked cops, fellow assassins, and even angelic killers working on behalf of Heaven to eliminate the latest incarnation of the Hellspawn.

At one point, comic book creator and rights holder Todd McFarlane was hoping to make his feature film debut as a director on the remake he had been personally developing internally with the aim to have Jamie Foxx in the role of Al Simmons/Spawn and Jeremy Renner as the persistent/logical police detective Twitch. Of course, since then, both actors have had their medical issues/recoveries, and remains to be seen if they’ll ultimately end up doing the film.

However, Jason Blum, the head of the studio, suggested a release window to ComicBook for the project that suggests they might finally be gearing up to get cameras rolling sometime next year and potentially have the remake in theaters by 2025.

“2025 is when Spawn is going to come out. I stand by that,” Blum said of the status of their “Spawn” remake.

While that determination to get the movie made and in theaters by 2025 is certainly ambitious, we still don’t know if they’ll be going for a more faithful comic book adaptation (minus the villains and supporting characters they’ve lost the rights to) or will go the low-budget horror film route that McFarlane originally intended. Since the project has undergone various rewrites. Also, we’re still not entirely sure who is actually going to direct it. There have been signs more recently that McFarlane could step aside from that role, but it’s not exactly official if that is happening.

“Spawn” isn’t the only existing project Blumhouse wants to get their hands on as they’ve previously been open in interviews about gunning for the rights to make a new “Friday The 13th” feature film. The rights issues seemingly have been settled as A24 is currently developing a prequel series titled “Crystal Lake” with the aim to mostly focus on Pamela Voorhees, the original killer of the franchise and mother of Jason.

While speaking with Inverse, Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek is still hopeful after tacking a new “Halloween” trilogy their desire is to get the ability to make new “Friday The 13th” movies. In which the studio would very much consider a proud feather in their cap if they can actually secure the rights and get the machete slashing again.

“Jason [Blum] and I are definitely in agreement that ‘Friday The 13th’ is the thing we would love to get our hands on. I really want to go back to the basics. You don’t need too many ingredients for a Friday the 13th film. You need summer camp, you need campers, and you need Jason Vorhees in a mask. Listen, I’ve gone on the record saying ‘Halloween’ is the ultimate slasher film for me. That’s my favorite slasher film of all time. But ‘Friday The 13th’ as a franchise is one that I just bow down to. I just love everything about it. And if we were able to live in both worlds, like we do with ‘Halloween,’ then to be able to live at Crystal Lake for a while would be so incredible.”

We’ll have to wait and see if Blumhouse is able to get either project off the ground. Although, given Blumhouse’s reputation of persistence it wouldn’t be that wild of a situation if they did end up getting their hands on Jason Vorhees. A studio that is mainly focused on the horror franchise’s legacy might have better intentions than a studio only looking to squeeze money out of it, which I’m sure horror fans would get behind. Then again, there had been mixed reactions to how they’ve handled their trio of “Halloween” installments and predictable groans concerning their recent release, “The Exorcist: Believer.”

SOURCE: INVERSE & COMICBOOK

Posted on in Film News, News

‘Spawn’ Remake Getting Rewrites From ‘Broken City’ Screenwriter Brian Tucker

Despite almost going into production a while back, it looks like Blumhouse has hired a new screenwriter to help with rewrites on the their Spawn remake. Image Comics’ Todd McFarlane created the comic book character after leaving Marvel Comics to form his own creative-driven comic book company. McFarlane is also set to direct the mature comic book film and wrote the original draft of Spawn’s script.

Spawn is centered on a black-ops agent, Al Simmons, who is betrayed and murdered and his soul sent to hell for all the innocents he killed. While there, he makes a deal with a demon who allows him to return to the earthly plane and his wife. However, five years have now passed, and his wife has moved on, while he is a disfigured and superpowered spawn of hell.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the studio has assigned Brian Tucker (Broken City) to do rewrites on the script, however, the extent of the reworking isn’t clear. Tucker is also working on The Fugitive remake for Warner Bros. that was announced a while back.

It sounds like they’ve been having trouble getting the film financed and hopefully some rewrites will get things in motion. McFarlane’s original pitch for the remake sounded so off-case that it sort of didn’t even sound like a Spawn movie anymore. As a fan, I kind of wish they’d look to the HBO animated series for inspiration instead of trying to make a low-budget horror film using the Spawn brand to get money for it.

Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx (Miami Vice, Baby Driver, Project Power) had been originally attached to play Al Simmons/Spawn and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, Wind River) was going to play Detective Twitch before the project stalled multiple times. It’s unknown if the pair of actors will be coaxed back to return at this point or if the studio will look at finding replacements.

Foxx recently joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe by reprising his role of Electro in Spider-Man: No Way Home coming out on December 17 and Renner’s Disney+ series Hawkeye will debt on November 24.

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Film News

‘Adrift’: Jared Leto & Darren Aronofsky Reuniting For Ghost Ship Movie – Based On Short Story From The Author of ‘The Ring’

Jared Leto and director Darren Aronofsky haven’t worked together since Requiem For A Dream, but that is all changing according to a new report from Deadline. The outlet reveals the two will be reteaming for a horror flick titled Adrift with Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions producing.

The project is based on a short story from Koji Suzuki‘s Dark Water, the author of the Japanese horror classic The Ring that was turned into multiple feature films in Japan and the United States.

The story is set in the dead calm of the open sea, where a fishing boat discovers an abandoned yacht with a strange distress call. A deckhand agrees to take lone control of it while it’s towed into port, but soon he discovers why the rest of his more experienced crew members call it a “Ghost Ship.”

Darren will be a little busy as he’s about to begin shooting his drama Whale with Brendan Fraser in March.

Leto’s next films to be released will be the crime thriller The Little Things starring opposite Denzel Washington that has been getting some buzz and the Spider-Man spinoff Morbius that was recently delayed to January 2022.

THE LITTLE THINGS – Deputy Sheriff Joe “Deke” Deacon joins forces with Sgt. Jim Baxter to search for a serial killer who’s terrorizing Los Angeles. As they track the culprit, Baxter is unaware that the investigation is dredging up echoes of Deke’s past, uncovering disturbing secrets that could threaten more than his case.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘Spawn’ Actor Michael Jai White Puzzled By Todd McFarlane’s Reboot – “Good Luck With That”

A Spawn feature film reboot has been in the works for over two decades as the character had been widely popular in the 1990s with the original Image Comics run, a toyline, video games, an animated series on HBO, and lackluster feature film released back in 1997 that had some of the worst CGI of that decade in a major motion picture.

Spawn focuses on Al Simmons, a murderous government assassin who is killed and while in hell makes a deal to lead their army as the Hellspawn if can say goodbye to his wife Wanda. During this brief time on Earth he decides to take own his killers and a local mob boss with his new powers as he attempts to protect Wanda’s new family alongside his homeless cohorts.

It’s comic book creator Todd McFarlane had eventually convinced Blumhouse Pictures to get involved allowing him to write and direct the film, however, there have been multiple hiccups despite landing Jamie Foxx as Al Simmons aka Spawn and Jeremy Renner as Detective Twitch (bizarre casting).

Comic Book Resources caught-up with the original film’s actor Michael Jai White, who starred in the live-action film from 1997 to get his impression of the reboot being pursued by Todd McFarlane and Blumhouse Pictures. It sounds like White isn’t terribly convinced of either the way they want to make the film or if Todd is the right person to execute it as the director.

WHITE: “He’s been trying to get a new movie up and going for 23 years so I don’t know. [Laughs] The last time I saw him, he was telling me about his idea of Spawn being ethereal fog that you don’t see, like Jaws, and he strikes and you never see him and I’m like ‘Okay, good luck with that!’.

“Personally, I wish him well, that would be a major investment.”

“I don’t know Todd to be a director at all. It’s kind of like Stan Lee: He created the character but he doesn’t direct him and I guess somebody would have to pony up a lot of money for Todd McFarlane to direct for his first time directing this movie idea that he has. I’ve heard about Jamie Foxx starring in it and wish them well. I don’t know, maybe it continues because this is what people like to hear from Todd McFarlane. He can get attention by promising another Spawn; I don’t get it.”

Despite positive talk from both Todd and Blumhouse’s Jason Blum about the impending feature film still in scripting stages, it doesn’t feel like they’ll be shooting anytime soon. There had been some information a couple of years ago that they were almost about to begin shooting in Toronto when the whole thing was unplugged at the last minute, currently still in active development.

As a fan of the source material, I’m perplexed that they want to deviate so much from the Spawn mythology to create something that fans will have trouble supporting. It mostly feels like a budgetary thing to give Todd creative freedom and his shot at directing a studio film rather than making a project that a majority of fans would embrace alongside a general audience, even though this will be a niche film with limited appeal to begin with.

SOURCE: COMIC BOOK RESOURCES

Posted on in Film News

David Gordon Green Reportedly In Talks To Direct ‘Exorcist’ Sequel For Blumhouse – William Friedkin Debunks His Involvement

Blumhouse is zeroing-in on a director for their sequel to The Exorcist.

According to Observer (backed-up by trades), David Gordon Green is in talks to direct the horror project. David you might remember is behind the successful Halloween soft-reboot/sequel along with the two sequels Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends.

Details are a little scarce and if they’ll be attempting to make a film with returning characters or simply reworking the existing mythology for something new but establishing the events of the original film still happened.

The Exorcist is considered a benchmark film in the horror genre as it was a massive box office hit and also helped elevate the quality of horror films that could be made by filmmakers beyond the B-movie. The previous sequels have never really match the bar set by the original and this new project will have rather large shoes to fill.

THE EXORCIST – One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd — levitating, speaking in tongues — her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end. A local priest (Jason Miller), however, thinks the girl may be seized by the devil. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism, and the church sends in an expert (Max von Sydow) to help with the difficult job.

The original film’s director William Friedkin took to Twitter recently to debunk an IMDB listing that suggested he was involved with the new project and makes it clear he never would be part of it. I guess they won’t get a blessing similar to John Carpenter on their Halloween sequels.

FRIEDKIN: “There’s a rumor on IMDB that I’m involved with a new version of The Exorcist. This isn’t a rumor, it’s a flat-out life. There’s not enough money or motivation in the world to get me to do this.”

SOURCE: OBSERVER

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Jason Blum Optimistic About Marvel Studios Tackling Horror With ‘Blade’ Reboot – “Never Bet Against Marvel”

Another nifty quote from horror guru Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions during his interview with Inverse is his take on Marvel Studios finally tackling horror with their Blade reboot and the Doctor Strange sequel (originally announced as a scary film back at SDCC 2019), asking if Jason believes Marvel can make scary movies.

BLUM: “I’m of two minds. I would never bet against Marvel. They have a relatively good track record — that’s a joke, they have one of the best track records ever, right? I also think it’s a challenge to do horror at big budgets, but if anyone can do it, it’s Marvel.”

Inverse seems to be unaware that the scary/horror side of Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness might be getting trimmed potentially due to the Multiverse aspect (likely making this more like an event film), something that was likely part of the reason director Scott Derrickson exited and was replaced with Spider-Man’s Sam Raimi.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Blade would most likely skew more in horror realm since the lead character is a vampire hunter and vampire hybrid himself. I think we’re all still curious how the action and violence will influence the film’s rating, given the original three movies are R-rated and given how the MPAA feels about blood/gore having tame vampires in your Blade film would certainly rub fans the wrong way.

When acquiring 21st Century Fox, former Disney CEO Bob Iger said they were open to the idea of keeping Deadpool R-rated which was seemingly echoed by studio heads Alan Horn and Kevin Feige. Blade is certainly a character that could be an experiment being produced by Marvel Studios then possibly released by 20th Century Studios under a Marvel Max or Marvel Knights banner, as not to confuse parents with the Disney side of the MCU.

It’s worth mentioning that Kevin Feige previously produced Blade Trinity (New Line Cinema) and Punisher: War Zone (Lionsgate) for Marvel, both R-rated films but the latter used the Marvel Knights banner.

There are certainly characters that should be set aside for their own mature films.

Marvel is reportedly now seeking black screenwriters to tackle Blade’s script which should tell you how in the development process they are at the moment. The project was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2019 with two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Alita: Battle Angel) playing Eric Brooks in the reboot. Ali revealed recently he met with the studio years ago after the release of the Netflix series Luke Cage to see if he could nab the Blade role.

BLADE – A half-mortal, half-immortal is out to avenge his mother’s death and rid the world of vampires. The modern-day technologically advanced vampires he is going after are in search of his special blood type needed to summon an evil god who plays a key role in their plan to execute the human race.

SOURCE: INVERSE

Posted on in Film News

Producer Jason Blum Promises ‘Spawn’ Remake Will Be “Very Edgy” Compared To The Original Movie

It’s been ages since we’ve had any real update concerning Blumhouse’s new remake of the Image Comics character Spawn, the feature film coming from comic book creator Todd Todd McFarlane who originally planned on writing and directing.

Producer Jason Blum gave a brief update to Inverse stating they’re still working on the story and will be making a much more edgy version compared the original live-action film released back in 1997.

BLUM: “It’s gonna be very different, it’s gonna be very edgy. What excited me about it is that Spawn is kind of the last great unexploited comic. So that seemed like an amazing opportunity. It’s taken longer than I hoped it would have to get the story right, but we’re still working on it.”

The version of Spawn seen in both the comics and the excellent HBO animated series as considered “edgy”. If you’re unfamiliar with Spawn, Al Simmons is a government assassin that murdered by his handlers then sent to hell. There he is given a chance to return to Earth to see his wife Wanda one more time if he leads hell’s army as the Hellspawn. As the Hellspawn, he decides to rebuff the offer and becomes a violent crime fighter going after mobsters, assassins, crooked cops, and a pedophile serial killer named Billy Kincaid.

From some of the comments made by Todd McFarlane he was going to attempt something that vastly deviated from his original version of Spawn which, to me, sounded like it would turn off a lot of fans of the franchise. Seemingly focusing on Twitch’s perspective and making Spawn more of a boogeyman figure. A concept that sounded like it was based on securing a smaller than normal budget so that Todd could keep creative control and direct.

The character made waves because at the time there weren’t too many popular African-American superheroes at the level of Spawn, the character and merchandise was everywhere before the ridiculous feature film make him a bit of a joke. A slight issue with the rights to Spawn is that Todd and Blumhouse can’t use franchise characters like mob boss Tony Twist (due to civil suit), Angela (sold to Marvel by creator Neil Gaiman), and Chapel (owned by Rob Liefeld via Youngblood).

Spawn got a little bit of a cultural revival recently thanks to joining the DLC character lineup of Mortal Kombat 11, voiced by Keith David, who played Spawn on the HBO series.

At one time, Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained, Baby Driver, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Miami Vice) was announced to play Al Simmons aka Spawn with Jeremy Renner (Hurt Locker, The Avengers) to play an incarnation of Detective Maximilian “Twitch” Williams. Both are currently busy with Marvel Cinematic Universe projects as Foxx will be playing a version of villain Electro in Jon Watt’s Spider-Man 3 and Renner is reprising the Clint Barton role in a Hawkeye series for Disney+.

They had once planned on shooting the Spawn in Toronto, but it remains to be seen if they’ll stick with that location if cameras ever start rolling on the remake. Makeup and special effects artist Greg Nicotero (The Walking Dead, Watchmen, Preacher) was also expected to work on the film, something I first reported in the summer of 2018.

SOURCE: INVERSE

Posted on in Film News

Oscar-Winner John Ridley To Write and Direct 1960’s Poltergeist Film For Blumhouse

Today, it was announced via Variety that Blumhouse and Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley are teaming up for new horror film. Ridley is best known for his series American Crime and winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for his work on 12 Years A Slave.

The film is based on the article Project Poltergeist written by Saleah Blancaflor, John will be doing double duty as both writer and director.

The story, based on true events, is set in the 1960s and follows unexplained events surrounding the first alleged haunting in a public housing project that terrified a young boy in New Jersey.

RIDLEY: “This is an incredible true-life narrative of a young man dealing with horrors — both paranormal and racially systemic — in a community that is scarred by hate, yet ultimately brought together by hope. I really appreciate Blumhouse’s commitment to telling stories that seek to entertain audiences even as it challenges them.”

SOURCE: VARIETY

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‘Get Out’ Actress Allison Williams To Star In Robot Horror Flick ‘M3GAN’ From Blumhouse and James Wan

Deadline reports that Get Out star Allison Williams will be reuniting with Blumhouse for a new technology horror film titled M3GAN. Williams will star as the lead character, Gemma, a brilliant robotics scientist.

She will produce alongside James Wan’s Atomic Monster as well.

Williams plays Gemma, a brilliant roboticist at a toy company. She uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to be a kid’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. After unexpectedly gaining custody of her orphaned niece, Gemma enlists the help of the M3GAN prototype – a decision that has unimaginable consequences.

The project sounds interesting with a script penned by Akela Cooper (Malignant, The Nun 2, Luke Cage) based on a story by James Wan and will be directed by Gerard Johnstone (Housebound).

SOURCE: DEADLINE