Tag: Horror

Posted on in Television News

Netflix Announces 8-Episode ‘Resident Evil’ Series Will Focus On Jade Wesker – ‘The Walking Dead’s Bronwen Hughes To Direct First Two Episodes

Today, it was officially confirmed that Netflix will indeed be making a live-action series based on the Capcom horror video game franchise. They’ve hired Andrew Dabb (Supernatural) to showrun, executive produce, and write the series with executive producer Bronwen Hughes (The Walking Dead) set to direct the first two episodes.

The series will also get eight hourlong episodes. 

Here is the official press release from Netflix that includes a synopsis for the new show that will focus on Jade Wesker, one of the daughters of franchise antagonist Albert Wesker. 

Building on one of the most popular, best-selling survival horror video games of all time, Resident Evil will tell a brand new story across two timelines:

In the first timeline, fourteen-year-old sisters Jade and Billie Wesker are moved to New Raccoon City. A manufactured, corporate town, forced on them right as adolescence is in full swing. But the more time they spend there, the more they come to realize that the town is more than it seems and their father may be concealing dark secrets. Secrets that could destroy the world. 

Cut to the second timeline, well over a decade into the future: there are less than fifteen million people left on Earth. And more than six billion monsters — people and animals infected with the T-virus. Jade, now thirty, struggles to survive in this New World, while the secrets from her past – about her sister, her father and herself – continue to haunt her.

A feature film is also in the works that will reboot the Mila Jovocih movies with traditional characters stepping up. 

SOURCE: NETFLIX 

Posted on in Film News

John Carpenter and Blumhouse Teaming For Reboot of ‘The Thing’ – Remake Expected To Be Based On Lost Manuscript ‘Frozen Hell’

Variety is reporting that Universal and Blumhouse are indeed developing a reboot of the classic science fiction horror film The Thing and are getting John Carpenter involved, not unlike with their recent revivals of the Halloween franchise. 

This isn’t exactly new information, however, John Carpenter’s reported involvement certainly is. What his exact role on the project will be isn’t clear but becoming an executive producer and consultant would be an excellent bet to make. 

Back in January, it was announced by John Betancourt that Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions were aiming to fast-track a new version/remake of The Thing based on the lost manuscript version Frozen Hell, which is much longer and predates the original novella Who Goes There? from author John W. Campbell Jr. 

“In 1938, acclaimed science fiction author John W. Campbell published the novella Who Goes There?, about a team of scientists in Antarctica who discover and are terrorized by a monstrous, shape-shifting alien entity. The story would later be adapted into John Carpenter’s iconic movie The Thing (following an earlier film adaptation in 1951). The published novella was actually an abridged version of Campbell’s original story, called Frozen Hell, which had to be shortened for publication. The Frozen Hell manuscript remained unknown and unpublished for decades, and it was only recently rediscovered.”

The novella was adapted into two films with John’s 1982 film The Thing and 1951’s The Thing From Another World, there was also a disastrous prequel to 1982 film released in 2011 which was a commercial flop for Universal and famously ruined practical effects by painting CGI all over it.

Variety also points out that Carpenter revealed talks with Blumhouse and their plan to reboot The Thing has taken place during a Q&A at the Fantasia International Film Festival. 

CARPENTER: “I have? I don’t know about that, but we’ve talked about — I think he’s going to be working on The Thing, rebooting ‘The Thing.’ I’m involved with that, maybe. Down the road.”

It was suggested back in January it was being fast-tracked but a screenwriter isn’t being named in this new report. 

The Carpenter film is considered the apex of practical special effects. 

THE THING – In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) and the camp doctor (Richard Dysart) lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.

SOURCE: VARIETY

Posted on in Film News

Reboot of ‘The Exorcist’ Reportedly In The Works At Morgan Creek Entertainment

Buried in a recent report from Deadline about a new series based on David Cronenberg’s thriller Dead Ringers, has revealed that Morgan Creek Entertainment is apparently developing a reboot of the classic William Friedkin horror film The Exorcist, considered to be one of the best horror films ever made.

Below is the brief mention of the project.

Current Morgan Creek projects include Stay Tuned at AMC, with a planned theatrical reboot of The Exorcist in the works for 2021.

I’m sure horror fans are going to be little shocked anyone would attempt a reboot, despite the multiple sequels and prequels the original 1973 film spawned.

The original was a breakthrough for the genre and included a massive amount of practical special effects and makeup. Max von Sydow had impressive old-age make that added decades to the actor.

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.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Television News

‘Day of The Dead’ Series Adds ‘The Void’ Director Steven Kostanski

The Ronin has learned that the upcoming Day of The Dead series loosely based on the George A. Romero zombie flick has added director Steven Kostanski, best known for directing The Void. 

Production (fingers crossed) is expected to take place between September 14th and December 4th in Vancouver. There is a chance these dates can change or production pausing as the pandemic will make any future productions unpredictable and British Columbia has seen some recent upticks in new cases. 

It was announced in February that the series landed at SyFy and was aiming to begin airing in 2021. 

The horror series will be written and showrun by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas. 

The new incarnation of Day of the Dead is the intense story of six strangers trying to survive the first 24 hours of an undead invasion.

The third in the Romero Zombie Saga, the film focused on a group of survivors in a military facility and it’s one of the more action-packed out of the series. 

DAY OF THE DEAD – Trapped in a missile silo, a small team of scientists, civilians and trigger-happy soldiers battle desperately to ensure the survival of the human race, but tension inside the base is reaching breaking-point, and the zombies are gathering outside.

Posted on in Film News

Tig Notaro Will Replace Chris D’Eila In Zack Snyder’s ‘Army of The Dead’ With A Round of Reshoots

In a bold move by director Zack Snyder and Netflix, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that they have decided to replace scenes with stand-up comedian Chris D’Elia with fellow stand-up comedian Tig Notaro (Star Trek Discovery, Transparent, One Mississippi) in the action-horror film Army of The Dead via some unexpected reshoots. 

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.

Tig’s most recent film role was in Noah Hawley’s Lucy In The Sky. 

Chris had been embroiled lately in controversy after multiple claims from underage girls that he was sexually harassing and grooming them for sex. This led to Netflix to end an upcoming prank show that Chris was developing with pal Bryan Cullen (Joker, Warrior, Mad TV). Cullen is being accused of full-out sexual assault. 

This certainly sees both Zack Snyder and Netflix take a strong stance on sexual misconduct along with putting extra money into their production to have him removed/replaced. 

The reshoots will likely lead to a delay in the film’s release on Netflix. 

Army of The Dead is Snyder’s return to the horror genre after his debut film Dawn of The Dead, a remake of George A. Romero film that was written by James Gunn. 

SOURCE: THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

Posted on in Television News

Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Mimic’ Getting The Series Treatment With ‘Resident Evil’s Paul WS Anderson Directing The Pilot

Deadline is reporting that Guillermo del Toro’s 1997 creature horror flick Mimic will be adapted into a new television series from Miramax TV with Resident Evil and Event Horizon director Paul WS Anderson tackling the show’s pilot episode. 

Jim Danger Gray will write and showrun Mimic with previous credits that include Hannibal, American Gods, and Orange Is The New Black. 

The horror film was based on a short story from author Donald A. Wollheim with a script from Matthew Robbins and Guillermo.

MIMIC – When a cockroach-spread plague threatens to decimate the child population of New York City, evolutionary biologist Susan Tyler (Mira Sorvino) and her research associates rig up a species of “Judas” bugs and introduce them into the environment, where they will mimic the diseased roaches and infiltrate their grubby habitats. So far so good … until the bugs keep on evolving and learn to mimic their next prey — humans.

The original film’s cast included Mira Sorvino, Josh Brolin, Jeremy Northam, Charles S. Dutton, Norman Reedus, Giancarlo Giannini, and F. Murray Abraham. It would end up getting two direct-to-video sequels. 

Sadly, Guillermo del Toro won’t be involved in the new series. 

I thought the original Resident Evil movie was fine and Paul’s work on Event Horizon might be the highlight of his career, hopefully, there is a bit more care put into this new horror series than the Resident Evil sequels that got increasingly worse. 

I would recommend giving Event Horizon a shot.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Courtney Cox Officially Returns For ‘Scream 5’ Reprising Gale Weathers Role

It’s official! 

Radio Silence has confirmed to Deadline that actress Courtney Cox, as assumed, will reprise her franchise role of reporter Gale Weathers in the fifth installment of Scream. The new film is expected to incorporate a new set of characters alongside original ones like David Arquette’s Dewey, Cox’s Gale, and presumably Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott. 

Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will be making the film based on a screenplay by James Vanderbilt (Murder Mystery, Amazing Spider-Man) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not, Castle Rock).

While trades keep calling the horror project a “reboot”, Scream 5 now has the main three franchise actors expected to return in their original roles. Hardly a traditional full-on reboot if they’re going to treat this as a sequel set within an existing cinematic universe.

The original film had a string of gory murders that would ultimately be connected to the murder of Sidney Prescott’s mother, who had been killed the previous year. Sequels would see various new characters play copycat which turned the satirical horror franchise into a guessing game of “who will be revealed as Ghostface” in this installment. It’ll be interesting if creatives on Scream 5 genuinely have a fresh take to run with or will instead try to beat-a-dead-horse as other studios have with their established horror revivals. 

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

Guillermo del Toro Still Wants To Make ‘At The Mountains of Madness’ and A ‘Frankenstein’ Trilogy

While speaking with Collider to help promote the upcoming horror film Antlers, producer Guillermo del Toro revealed that he is still extremely keen on making feature films based on the H.P. Lovecraft story At The Mountains of Madness and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. 

Teasing he’d like to make a trilogy about the latter.

DEL TORO: “I’ve always imagined it as a two to three-part story, because in order to encompass the book you have to change points of view and it’s a complex exercise.”

Both projects had been in various development stages in the past before Guillmero was ultimately pulled away from those films to focus on other stuff. Seemingly, when he was developing At The Mountains of Madness it got the furthest along as Tom Cruise and his Hellboy actor Ron Perlman had been attached for roles until the budgetary issues with Universal Pictures put the horror project on ice for the foreseeable future. 

The director was hellbent that Mountains needed to be R-rated and was likely another issue between himself at the studio. 

Universal had been tinkering with trying to resurrect their Universal Monsters with a Bride of Frankenstein reboot starring Oscar-winners Angelina Jolie and Javier Bardem. The studio had been reportedly courting new directors which included Sam Raimi before he took over duties from Scott Derrickson on Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness. 

Here is del Toro speaking about Bride of Frankenstein back in 2012 at the Academy screening series A Monstrous Centennial: Universal’s Legacy of Horror at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater. 

Guillermo is expected to resume filming on his period thriller Nightmare Alley this fall in Toronto and had been previously attached to direct a remake of the sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage for a pre-Disney owned 20th Century Studios. 

SOURCE: COLLIDER

Posted on in Film News

Guillermo del Toro Still Hopeful About Making His ‘At The Mountains of Madness’ Feature Film Adaptation

There are plenty of movies that never came together for director Guillermo del Toro such as a remake of The Fantastic Voyage and DC Comics film Justice League Dark (now being developed as a series for HBO Max by J.J. Abrams/Bad Robot). 

One of the bigger projects he was forced to walk away from was a high-budget R-rated version of H.P Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness that had Tom Cruise set to star with James Cameron producing. The film ultimately didn’t come together over budget concerns. 

While speaking with Indie Wire he spoke about still being hopeful about making the film and wears a memento ring to remind him about it. 

DEL TORO: “This is why I wear this ring since the project got canceled. This is the fake ring about a fake university, the one that appears in the book, Miskatonic University, and I’m gonna wear it until I make the movie. They may bury me with it.”

 “It’s difficult to tackle. We had James Cameron as a co-producer with me …. we had Tom Cruise [starring] and we thought we were gonna get it made and we didn’t, it didn’t happen. These are not decisions you make. Most of us filmmakers, we exist in a world that moves above our paygrade. People think that our career is a series of decisions. Our career is a series of accidents happening with your decisions on top. You don’t decide to do one movie instead of another.”

The classic story has had a large influence on the horror film genre including John Carpenter’s films such as The Thing and In The Mouth of Madness along with more modern stuff like Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel Prometheus. 

SOURCE: INDIE WIRE 

Posted on in Film News

‘Shazam!’ Director David F. Sandberg Returning To Horror With Lionsgate’s ‘The Culling’

Deadline is reporting that David F. Sandberg would be returning to the world of horror for a new project from Lionsgate titled The Culling. The filmmaker is best known for directing the DC Comics film Shazam! for New Line Cinema and is attached to also direct it’s sequel. His roots are within the horror genre tackling films such as Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation.

The original horror film is from a spec-script penned by Stephen Herman.

A troubled priest confines himself to a remote cabin in the middle of the woods where he attempts to make a last stand against the demon that terrorized his family when he was a child.

Mångata and Fear Content will produce.

David is expected to shoot his sequel to Shazam! next as the film has a release date of November 4th, 2022. This release date would suggest that they plan to begin filming the superhero film sometime in 2021.

SOURCE: DEADLINE