Tag: Dawn of The Dead

Posted on in Film News

James Gunn Reveals Universal Rejected His ‘Creature From The Black Lagoon’ Remake After The Success Of ‘Dawn Of The Dead’

Many know James Gunn thanks to directing credits on projects like Guardians of The Galaxy and his upcoming DC Comics film The Suicide Squad, but made waves because of his writing work on the hit Zack Snyder-directed zombie flick Dawn of The Dead, a remake of the classic George A. Romero movie.

During a fan Q&A on Instagram, James Gunn (taking a break from the filming of Peacemaker) revealed that in the wake of Dawn of The Dead’s success in 2004 he tried to get a Creature From The Black Lagoon remake (based on the 1954 film) that was ultimately turned down by Universal Pictures.

“I tried to do Creature From The Black Lagoon right after Dawn of The Dead, but they didn’t want me to do it,” James Gunn said when responding to a fan question on Instagram.

Remake plans at Universal go back to the early 1980s with various directors getting in the mix such as John Landis (An American Werewolf In London), John Carpenter (The Thing, Memoirs of An Invisible Man), Peter Jackson (The Frighteners, King Kong), Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters), and Guillermo del Toro (Crimson Peak, Blade II).

More recently, the studio had directors Breck Eisner (The Crazies, The Last Witch Hunter, The Expanse) and Carl Rinsch (47 Ronin) attached at various stages. Back in 2015, there were rumors from The Tracking Board that actress Scarlett Johansson was wanted for a lead role with a script from Jeff Blitz, Gary Ross, Tedi Sarafian and Paul Schering.

After plans for their Dark Universe collapsed, there was chatter that the Universal was considering to continue with a Black Lagoon remake, but concrete updates haven’t been announced.

CREATURE FORM THE BLACK LAGOON – Remnants of a mysterious animal have come to light in a remote jungle, and a group of scientists intends to determine if the find is an anomaly or evidence of an undiscovered beast. To accomplish their goal, the scientists (Antonio Moreno, Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Whit Bissell) must brave the most perilous pieces of land South America has to offer. But the terrain is nothing compared to the danger posed by an otherworldly being that endangers their work and their lives.

While Universal was twiddling their thumbs with those remake plans, Guillermo del Toro made his own creature feature for Searchlight Pictures, The Shape of Water, that ended up becoming a commercial success and landed Oscar statues for Best Picture and Best Director.

James Gunn would go on to direct Slither and Super before getting hired by Marvel Studios to help launch their successful Guardians of The Galaxy franchise. He recently completed work on The Suicide Squad that has an August 6 release date and will begin shooting Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 before the end of 2021.

SOURCE: JAMES GUNN

Posted on in Film News

‘Army of The Dead’: Zack Snyder Says Warner Bros. Passed On The Zombie Project – Prequel Movie Wraps Production

Zack Snyder‘s horror remake Dawn of The Dead (penned by James Gunn) is arguably one of the filmmaker’s most accessible feature films to date. So, having the the director return to the zombie/action-horror genre with Army of The Dead for Netflix is exciting for a multitude of reasons.

Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Zack reveals that the film had been lingering at Warner Bros. for years but the studio ultimately didn’t want to make it because of the money involved for the budget that would have taken to get it made the way that Snyder wanted.

SNYDER: “They didn’t want to spend that kind of money on a zombie movie, or just didn’t take it that seriously. I was always like, ‘Look guys, this is more than [just a zombie movie],’ but it fizzled out.”

Ultimately, the streaming giant Netflix picked-up Army of The Dead after they loved the pitch detailed by Snyder. They’ve been so enthused about the project, Netflix also recently wrapped on a prequel film last month directed by franchise actor Matthias Schweighofer.

SNYDER: “We were in a meeting at Netflix and I was talking about some of these scripts I was working on. And I mentioned the idea to [Netflix head of original films Scott Stuber] and he was like, ‘That is the movie! Go write that movie and let’s make it.’ I was like, ‘What, do you mean now?’ And he’s like, ‘Go write it tomorrow and we’ll do shoot it in a week.'”

Netflix obviously has few roadblocks concerning budgets for their projects as they notably spend a hefty amount of money on original programming, however, The Gray Man from The Russo Brothers will be their first film budgeted over $200 million competing on the level of major film studios.

Army of The Dead’s large cast consists of Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana De La Reguera, Theo Rossi, Huma Qureshi, Omari Hardwick, Hiroyuki Sanada, Garret Dillahunt, Matthias Schweighöfer, Raúl Castillo, Nora Arnezeder, Tig Notaro, and Samantha Win. 

It’s expected to drop later this year and Netflix is banking on it becoming their new horror franchise. A trailer is likely on the horizon given the new promotion for the film.

SOURCE: ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY