Posts Tagged ‘Sam Raimi’
Posted by Bryan in Events, Latest News, Movies on March 2nd, 2010
Grindhouse Releasing has been holding true to its name by making sure us common folk don’t forget about the classics. The company is bringing midnight screenings of Sam Raimi’s cult classic The Evil Dead to venues across the country, and they show no signs of stoping now.
The company has just made a deal to show a brand-new 35mm print of the horror film to debut this Friday, March 5 at Landmark’s Nu Art theater. Here’s what their rep had to say:
“We’re expecting a sold-out crowd for Evil Dead in Los Angeles, following our successful openings in New York, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Portland, and other cities,” says David Szulkin, Grindhouse Releasing’s theatrical director. “Demand for the movie led us to make a new print, which includes our all-new horror trailer show. Our plan is to keep Evil Dead playing in theaters throughout 2010.”
Grindhouse has joined forces with the notorious Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse franchise for upcoming dates in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and Alexandria, Virginia. Additional deals have been made with arthouses and other intimate venues, so with any luck you’ll have an Evil Dead screening coming to a town near you in the near future.
Perhaps if this type of release proves profitable (as it seems to be), Grindhouse will follow up with a similar schedule for the superior sequel, or even the still-awesome Army of Darkness. This re-release is ironic considering the film’s state of acceptance around the time of its original release.
Controversial for its over-the-top depiction of gore and violence, it was initially turned down by almost all U.S. film distributors until a European company finally bought it in the Cannes Film Festival marketplace. Now almost thirty(!) years after its arrival on screens in 1981, the film has obviously struck a chord with everyone in tune with its daffy sense of humor mixed with carnage.
For upcoming Evil Dead playdates, visit GrindhouseReleasing.com.
Posted by sean in Latest News, Movies on November 10th, 2009
Do you like Rachel McAdams? How about skintight leather-and-fur jumpsuits? How about Rachel McAdams in a skintight leather-and-fur jumpsuit? If she gets cast as Black Cat in Spiderman 4, we might get exactly that.
Our Spidey-rumor-sense is tingling after hearing that McAdams met with the producers of the film to discuss “a major role” – that of Felicia Hardy, AKA the burglar-turned-Spidey love interest known as The Black Cat. Not only is this great news for fans of the wardrobe choice mentioned above, it’s a move that makes sense given Sam Raimi’s approach to the franchise so far. In each film, the villains introduced have both battled Peter Parker in costume and made things more complicated in his personal life. The Spider-lovin’ Black Cat is sure to do exactly that.
It’s further rumored that the studio is also casting for a male villain, which means a few things. First, SM4 will follow the two-villain formula of the last movie – it really didn’t work out last time, but maybe the characters will be appropriately fleshed out this time. Second, this effectively snuffs out speculation that The Lizard will be the primary antagonist, since Dr. Curt Connors has been cast since the second movie – and that Bruce Campbell will appear as the dome-headed Mysterio. Campbell has stated that he does have a major role in this flick, so the jury’s still out on what form that will take.
I continue to be unenthusiastic… but maybe Raimi’s learned from Spiderman 3. Maybe it’ll be different this time!
OK, probably not. But, if it’s true, McAdams as Black Cat might drag me into the theater anyway.
Posted by Jocelyn in Movies on April 14th, 2009
Our friends and Dead Central and Bloody Disgusting were treated to a treat of all treats recently, as they got to be guests on the set of Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell. They were lucky enough to witness the filming of the climactic scene; a seance sequence to battle the curse of the gypse on Christine Brown (Alison Lohman). Lohman explains her characters situation:
“I play Christine Brown; she’s a loan officer, and she has to make this very fateful decision at her bank. This old elderly woman comes in who wants an extension on her loan. Her house is foreclosing on her. In any normal situation I would have given her the extension, but I wanted to get this promotion from my manager, and I choose not to give it her. So, she puts a curse on me.”
The exteriors for the home in which the seance is being held were taken at historic Doheny Mansion in Pasadena, CA. The interior of the room was built on a huge concrete soundstage. The set only took nine weeks to fully build and dress.
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Posted by dominie in Movies on March 31st, 2009
Shock Till You Drop has just debuted an exclusive first look at Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell official poster. The buzz has been great thus far, marking Raimi’s return to horror (at the helm!), and though the trailer’s scare factor didn’t rise to the occasion, this poster sure does. Either way, I’d like to snatch up Raimi from Spider-Man once and for all. Give him back to us!
In Raimi’s return to horror, Drag Me to Hell tells the story of Christine Brown, a loan officer (Alison Lohman) who is ordered to evict an old woman from her home. Life is good until she finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse, which turns her life into a living hell. She desperately turns to a seer to try and save her soul, while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point.
Drag Me to Hell hits theaters on May 29, 2009. Visit the official website at DragMetoHell.net.
Posted by dominie in Movies on February 4th, 2009
Just yesterday we announced Sam Raimi may be taking his upcoming remake of the thriller, Room 205 over to Michigan in order to take advantage of the state’s 42% tax rebate. And now it looks like the project is really getting off the ground since Bloody Disgusting’s first announcement of the project a year and a half ago.
Room 205 has hired The Grudge scribe, Stephen Susco, to pen the screenplay about a haunted dorm room. Sam Raimi, who will produce under Ghost House Pictures banner, describes the story as “a neat screenplay that will become a lovely, bright Midwestern university and tell about how kids become adjusted to their new surroundings. In the midst of that, the supernatural will rear its terrifying head.”
In the original 2007 Denmark story, the premise of the story goes something like this:
“Wanting to start a fresh, Katrine moves from the province into a dormitory in Copenhagen and enrolls at the University. But when she crosses conniving Sanne by getting together with Sanne’s ex, all hell breaks loose. Sanne and her friends try to bully Katrine out of the dormitory. They frighten her with an old myth surrounding the ghost of a former resident. Yet the myth very soon becomes a reality. By accident, Katrine sets the ghost free, who then starts a terrifyingly gruesome attack on the dormitory’s residents. Only Katrine knows the fate of the remaining residents if she doesn’t stop the actions of the ghost. However, no one believes Katrine’s story and they accuse her of the series of mysterious murders. She seeks help in the former resident Rolf. While the residents continue to die around them, Katrine and Rolf embark on a desperate struggle to stop the ghost before it kills those that are left…”
Shooting for Room 205 begins in Michigan this summer!
Posted by dominie in Movies on February 3rd, 2009
With the current economic crisis, the tax breaks some states are offering seem almost too good to be true. In a recent article at the Latino Review via The Oakland Press, the site reports that Michigan, which currently offers a 42% tax incentive to filmmakers, is becoming the new Hollywood.
According to the site, Raimi plans to return to Michigan, his hometown once again, to shoot his upcoming thriller, Room 205, for the tax rebate. Others have already taken advantage of this, including most recently Clint Eastwood, for his film Gran Torino.
In speaking with Raimi, the site also nabbed the following details for Raimi’s upcoming Spider-Man 4.
Raimi is slated to begin production on “Spider-Man 4” in 2010, in fact and, he said, envisions shooting some of that movie in Michigan.
“I’ll be looking at Michigan for our second-unit photography on the new ‘Spider-Man’ film,” he confirmed.
The extensive infrastructure needed to crank out megabudget productions like the three “Spider-Man” movies he already has made has, for the most part, kept him in Hollywood, Raimi pointed out. Yet he and Tapert have traveled the world to shoot TV shows such as “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.”
Tapert says the trek is simply a matter of going wherever he can get the best bang for the buck.
“We look at the bottom line on every single project in determining where we ultimately end up shooting,” the St. Clair Shores native explained. “Given that most of the projects we make, we can shoot almost anywhere, we can look at whether it’s in Romania, New Zealand, Australia, New Mexico or Canada. Film incentives are an incredibly important part of the equation.”
Read the full article here.
Posted by Jocelyn in Reviews on January 4th, 2009
Sam Raimi’s return to horror has made me genuinely hope that he stays for a while. Finally! An original horror film that has impressed and surpassed my expectations, which seems to have been too much to ask from the genre community as of late. It has been remake, or “reimagining”, after another with nothing new for us fans to enjoy. Drag Me To Hell has been a breath of fresh screams we’ve all been craving.
The film follows a young woman, Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), working in a bank who goes against her nature and denies a mortgage extension to an elderly woman in order to get ahead for an assistant manager’s position. As a result, the woman, who turns out to be a gypsy, curses her. She is tormented by the Lamia demon for three days before it will come for her and bring her down to hell. She has to make more “tough decisions” along the way in order to save her soul.
There are no wasted build-ups in this Raimi brothers’ collaboration. Sam and Ivan wrote in enough scares to last you the summer. Unlike other ghost or demon films, the threat keeps coming after the jump; it doesn’t dissipate. You experience the curse that Christine has been put under as she herself experiences it. Drag Me To Hell reminds us why we are afraid of shadows, blustery breezes, and strange noises.
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Posted by Dominic in Latest News, Movies on November 2nd, 2008
I’ve had a precarious relationship with the Spider-Man franchise. I didn’t enjoy the first film, though I seem to be one of the few. I couldn’t get past the cheesy dialoged and campy directing by Sam Raimi. That said I found myself completely thrown off by the sequel. To me Spider-Man 2 seemed the perfect comic-book film (before The Dark Knight that is). Though there existed some cheese for the kids there was deeper character development and a more believable and sympathetic villain in Doctor Octopus.
Enter Spider-Man 3 and the whole thing fell apart. First of many complaints, if you introduce Venom as an adversary don’t waste our time with Sandman, or any other nemesis, there’s no need. But I won’t get into a heavy laden critique of these films, for that is not the purpose of this post.
Pulitzer winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire has been hired to pen Spider-Man 4 according to The Hollywood Reporter. Lindsay-Abaire, who follows James Vanderbilts attempt at scripting the fourth installment of the lucrative franchise, won the Pulitzer for his 2007 play Rabbit Hole.
The decision to hire Lindsay-Abaire signals that Avi Arad and crew may be leaning towards a heavily character driven story rather than the spectacle and camp that disappointed many with the third installment.
With most of the key cast and crew signed on or rumored to return for the film, I can only hope Mr. Lindsay-Abaire is allowed to add depth and pathos to a franchise which seems to teeter on the edge of overly cheesy and deeply compelling.
And finally, can we please come up with a better name for the film this time? How about The Amazing Spider-Man or The Spectacular Spider-Man? Please Mr. Raimi, learn from The Dark Knight we don’t need numbers in our sequel titles.
Posted by dominie in Comics, Latest News, Movies on October 19th, 2008
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has signed newcomer Brad Ingelsby (The Honeyfields) to pen the script for DC Comics/WildStorm’s Sleeper comic book for the big screen.
In August, Tom Cruise was loosely attached to join Sam Raimi in developing the adaptation. Cruise’s involvement, though not officially signed, has seemingly set the project on the fast track for a 2011 release date and Warner Bros. is hoping to turn Sleeper into a new studio franchise. Cruise will rumored to star, while Raimi and Josh Donen will produce the film through their Stars Road Entertainment banner.
In regards to Ingelsby, early this year in March, he made his first script sale, The Low Dweller, a thriller feature to Relativity Media for $500,000 against $1 million, which Ridley Scott is now attached to direct and Leonardo DiCaprio will star.
The original Sleeper comic, written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips, “is a high-tech noir series published from 2003-05 that puts superheroes in a stylish, hard-boiled crime saga not unlike The Departed.” The series follows the protagonist, Holden Carver (a.k.a The Conductor) a spy placed undercover in a criminal organization led by TAO, a WildC.A.T.s villain. Carver is fused with an alien artifact that causes him to be impervious to pain and have the ability to pass on the specialty to other through skin contact. When Carver’s only real link to the outside, John Lynch, falls into a coma, Carver’s life spirals into an internal struggle between right and wrong while he rises through the ranks under TAO’s organization.
Posted by dominie in Comics, Latest News, Movies on October 17th, 2008
In an effort to gain some solidarity in the mist of all the Spider-Man sequels rumors, MTV caught up with director Sam Raimi to discuss the details.
A couple weeks ago Kirsten Dunst told MTV “I’m in if they’re in,” referring to Raimi and Maguire, but when asked to confirm officially her role, the actress was not so quick to answer. Raimi replies to MTV, “Kirsten, I’d love to work with her again. I hope she’ll be written into it. I couldn’t imagine making one without her, and I think she’s an important part of the movies.” That’s great I thought, but Raimi continues, “I wish I could work with James Franco again. But his character died in the last one; same with Uncle Ben. Fortunately, we’ve been able to bring back all the dead characters [like Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn or Cliff Robertson as Ben Parker]. I can’t let them go, in each and every picture; but it gets harder and harder.” So ultimately, we have no answer.
And as for the villain, Raimi teases, “[Dylan Baker’s] a great actor, and I think one day The Lizard’s story will be told. I don’t know if it will be this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet.”
Raimi denies having a script yet for the sequels, but insists that production will begin by March 2010. He also reveals that the final decision to shoot Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 hasn’t been made yet, and that he’s also curious to know what Amy Pascal, Sony’s Chairman, will decide.
Posted by dominie in Movies on October 8th, 2008
Summit Entertainment has announced that Sorority Row, the remake of 1983 The House On Sorority Row, is slated to hit theaters on October 2, 2009. Directed by Stewart Hendler from a script by Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger, the cast includes Briana Evigan, Rumer Willis, Audrina Patridge, Carrie Fisher, Julian Morris, Leah Pipes, Margo Harshman, and Jamie Chung, in a tale about a sorority prank goes wrong and the culprits find themselves hunted by a mysterious killer.
New artwork for Universal’s The Wolfman remake has been stirring up quite some noise. Directed by Joe Johnston, the film stars Benicio Del Toro as Larry Talbot who unwittingly becomes the Wolfman. Emily Blunt, the damsel in distress, is also featured in one of the new art pieces. See Shock Till You Drop for more images. The Wolfman releases April 3, 2009.
Sam Raimi has been in the news taking on every project except The Evil Dead remake and a possible Evil Dead 4. Ok, that statement was out of frustration, but let’s face it, with Spider-Man 4 and 5 now filming next year over a six month span, it will be long due before we see any action.
Bruce Campbell is reportedly just as frustrated with the “all talk and no game” BS that’s been in play. In an interview with Toyfare, Campbell exclaims, “Look, let’s cut to the chase because you keep dancing around it. If you’re talking about Ash coming back again, Sam Raimi has the best perspective. He says, ‘Look, I can go back and do Ash vs. whoever whenever I want. I can do that when I’m 70; I don’t have to do that now. Right now I’m on a fast, fat groovy rain in Hollywood.’ And he’s going to follow that, and he’ll come back and to Evil Dead stuff when he’s unemployed and living at the Old Director’s Home.”
Posted by dominie in Movies on October 1st, 2008
Kirsten Dunst has made a pretty strong charge back into the media as of late. Busy prepping for her role in A Jealous Ghost, which she will also partake in producing and promoting her upcoming film with Simon Pegg, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, she has also been the subject of many conversations regarding the Spider-Man 4 and 5 sequels being shot back-to-back.
Will Dunst be returning to don MJ’s red wig once again? “I’m in,” the actress told MTV News. “I’m in if they’re in,” referring to director Sam Raimi and actor Tobey Maguire. While Raimi and Maguire have signed on to return, the actress remained reserved from making any official announcements about her return.
Grindhouse Releasing has been holding true to its name by making sure us common folk don’t forget about the classics. The company is bringing midnight screenings of Sam Raimi’s cult classic The Evil Dead to venues across the country, and they show no signs of stoping now.
