NEWS: Two Directors Get HUGE Projects...

It looks like two big name horror directors, or at least up and coming horror directors, are getting their chance at some genuine franchises.

To start off, the most recent news, that literally hit the interwebs about an hour ago over at Bloody Disgusting. It appears that The Decent director Neil Marshall is nearly set to sign on the dotted line to take the helm of the upcoming Predator reboot, Predators. With the film Dog Soldiers, Marshall got his name out in a big way. I have yet to see that film, but it got the attention of indie haven Lionsgate, who financed The Decent, which culminated in the creation of one of the best horror films of the past 10 years, and sure, Doomsday wasn't great, but the guy has an insane sense of genre, so to me, it's a perfect fit.

The film is written by Alex Litvak, and is some-what based on a treatment created by now producer Robert Rodrigeuz. It sounds like an interesting premise (the time leading up to Alien, which may be a completely "Alien" filled film, meaning no humans, a very interesting idea), and this simply gives me more excitement, and for such a dead franchise, that is really what is needed.

On a similar note, CHUD is now reporting (with a Variety confirmation) that director Marcus Nispel is set to helm the upcoming reboot/remake of Conan the Barbarian. Now THAT is an interesting idea! Sure, Pathfinder is an awful film, but I still have a ton of faith in Nispel as a genre director.

Along in the running was the afformentioned Marshall, and while I tend to agree with the interwebs in that I think HE would have been a better fit, after seeing Nispel's latest film, Friday the 13th, the man knows what the fans of a franchise expect (he also helmed the stellar Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake), and with the inevitable casting of an unknown as Conan, I think he will be able to put his stylistic stamp on this surefire R-rated hit. It's going to be bloody, it's going to be intense, and hopefully Nispel will continue his streak of solid genre films. It is being written by Outlander scribes Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain, and is said to simply be a darker take on the original novels. While it's not going to be anything more than a blood filled action film, really, I would be more excited for my balls to direct this film instead of the much talked about Brett Ratner adaptation. At least my balls have style.

What do YOU think about these two announcements?

Go see something good!