NEWS: Paranormal Activity 2 Coming Soon?!?

It seems like one train that just can’t be stopped is the train driven by Oren Peli, and it consists of his $15,000 indie, Paranormal Activity. With the film reaching $85 million in domestic gross, his film is easily one of cinemas biggest stories from this year, and it may be one of the biggest stories of next year too, if the film maker has his way.

Shot in a week at Peli’s home, PA has been scaring the shit out of audiences for about two months now, in what has been called one of the most inventive and impactful release patterns in cinema. Now it looks like Paramount hopes to feed off of that huge buzz, and bring it over into the much rumored and talked about sequel. Here’s the scoop from The Hollywood Reporter, via The Playlist:

It appears that the success of the film - it has grossed $85 million to date and is Paramount's biggest profit maker this year - has earned the attention of Viacom (who own Paramount Pictures) CEO Philippe Dauman. In an earning's call on Tuesday, while smartly noting that the breakout success of the film can't be duplicated, Dauman said, "Our team will come up with the right creative and marketing approach to make sure that we benefit from a sequel."

Translation? You can probably bet on "Paranormal Activity 2" being ready in time for Hallowe'en 2010. The "right creative and marketing approach" probably boils down to: don't spend a lot of money, do a lot of low-cost viral marketing and advertise to the core audience. It's a process that Lionsgate already has down to a science with the "Saw" franchise.

So, as many of you know, I hate remakes, and in many cases, sequels are equally as bad. This is one of those cases in my eyes. Instead of coming off of the success of this film and say, getting his area 51 film done by next year, we will see a useless sequel, which will probably tread the same ground as the first film. I have had my respect for PA grow over time, but overall, I don’t see the need for a sequel, particularly with how the first film ended. If the ending was a bit more ambiguous, sure, but it seemed to close a bit more Hollywood and a bit more solid, that it really doesn’t leave much room for a sequel. Sure, the marketing is going to be great and fun, but really, take a look at the Saw franchise for why I don’t think this will work really at all.

The report continues and mentions that Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick are set to pitch Blair Witch 3, and it is an interesting comparison between PA and Blair Witch, one that I think, with the 10 year anniversary of BW here, I may have to revisit and do an editorial on. It’s also going to be interesting to see what other micro-budget horror films get pushed into production to play off of PA’s success. Could this be the new fad, taking the place of torture porn?

Go see something good!

NEWS: Monster's Inc. Sequel?

You bet your blue furry ass!

Ever since its release, the first Monster's Inc. has always been rumored to be getting a sequel. With brief statements like director Pete Docter's "We've thought about it" at last years Comic-Con, to the insane ramblings of fans on random website forums, along with the Incredibles, Monster's Inc. is easily one of the most sequel ready films in the Pixar canon. Well, it appears as though it's about to get kicked into gear.

In a closed doors licensing fair this weekend in Las Vegas, Pixar revealed that not only will the be working on Cars 2 to go along with Toy Story 3, but they will also be putting into production sometime in the near future, Monster's Inc. 2. While members of the session are allegedly told to keep all information hush hush, rumblings have been coming out of it and it all looks like it points to a new Monster's Inc. film.

However, as /Film points out, the signs have been pointing there for quite some time.

Pixar fansite The Pixar Blog started receiving strange searches this past January for variations of “‘monsters 2013 pixar”. The interesting thing about the searches is that they were coming from inside Pixar, from the Pixar.com domain. I know, circumstantial at best. But now that we know a sequel is definitely in the works, it seems a bit more likely that it’s being groomed for a 2013 release.

This is beyond good news. Monster's Inc. is a great film, and Pete Docter, who recently did Up, is a phenominal film maker. Cars 2 will probably be far superior to the first film, and Toy Story 2 is easily better than the first film, so Pixar, as much as they have come out and said they "aren't in the sequel business", they seem to be damn good at it. All in all, it's phenominal news, and here's to hoping that Pixar keeps shelling out original films, along with these much anticipated sequels.

Go see something good!

NEWS: WTF Is Pixar's Brave?

So, while doing promotion for their upcoming release, Up, Pixar’s Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera had an interview with ComingSoon.net, and with the uttering of a single word, they have created a firestorm of rumors.

Once in a while, we’re at these meetings where we all look at Toy Story 3 or Brave or whatever and we all give comments and notes, but that’s just like a day here or there.

WTF is Brave?

Well, one look at UpcomingPixar's Twitter page, and you will see that this may not have been some random slip up. However, there are a few films that this could be a mention of.

The best bet is that it may be a new title, or working title, for the upcoming Pixar film, The Bear and The Bow. The title hints at a story that could be about bravery, so that is one way it could go.

Another way this could go, is that since it was mentioned with Toy Story 3, it could be some sort of sequel or remake. There has been much talk about what will probably be an inevitable Monster's Inc. sequel, so it could be a working title for that. Or could it be the title of a sequel to Pixar's best film in my eyes, The Incredibles? Insanely unlikely, but at this point, no one knows a thing about this. On the remake front, /Film has an interesting idea:

My own suspicion (though it is only a vague one and I definitely wouldn’t stack any chips on it yet) is that Brave is a new adaptation of Thomas M. Disch’s The Brave Little Toaster.

Already adapted into an animated film - and two sequels - the original novel was billed by the author as “a bedtime story for small appliances”. He set the novel up for an adaptation at Disney, though that never quite happened. Later, the deal shifted and Hyperion produced the film, though it was distributed by Disney in 1987.

With that films strong ties to Pixar and its family, it is not out of the realm of possiblity that this film could be a hint at a Pixar created remake/adaptation of the film/novella, Brave Little Toaster.

What do you think this could be about?

Go see something good!

NEWS: Silent Hill 2 is Happening?

One of the best, if not the very best videogame to film adaptation is set to get a sequel.

Silent Hill is not only one of my favorite game franchises, but I think it may just be the best videogame to film adaptation every put to celuloid. It was both frightening and stunning to look at, and it really stayed true to what made the game so creepy. It was mood oriented more than a ton of jump scares, and the character of Pyramid Head may just be the creepiest looking monster I've seen in a while.

Well, accourding to Brett Easton Ellis, who recently wrote the critically destroyed film, The Informers, gave us a little insight when asked about his upcoming film, Glamorama, set to be helmed by Roger Avery.

Thanks to Bloodydigusting:

“He’s going to be shooting Silent Hill 2. As far as ‘Glamorama’, it’s just very hard to get the money to make it.”

Roger Avery is most famous for writing Pulp Fiction, Rules of Attraction, and Beowulf. He also wrote the first Silent Hill film, so he knows this material.

I really can't wait to see where they take this franchise for the next film.

What about you? Did you like the first Silent Hill movie? Are you a fan of the game? Do you want to see a sequel?

Go see something good!

NEWS: Hollywood Sequelpalooza '09...

One of those things that Hollywood has been looking at making a norm, is creating sequels/prequels to franchises that, albeit interesting, dead. Well, not to be outdone, they have come out with some really interesting and mindblowingly ridiculous projects. Here's the list and some breif details.

- Gremlins 3

Third film in the Gremlins series, which if created, will not be directed by series helmer, Joe Dante.

- Who Framed Roger Rabbit 2

This one is the most interesting. Recently, WFRR director Robert Zimeckis, said that “digital tools and performance capture” has him “starting to think about” doing another Roger Rabbit.

- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Mirage Studios is working on a live action adaptation of the classic comic book series

- Drop Dead Fred

Russell Brand is set to star in this remake

- Clueless sequel

Amy Heckerling may, or may not, be currently working on a sequel to the hit '90's film.

- Aliens

Ridley Scott has been considering creating a prequel to Alien

- Predators

Robert Rodriguez is set to produce a prequel/reboot of the Arnold Schwartzenagger film, Predator.

- Wall Street 2

Oliver Stone has just announced that he will be coming back to make a sequel to Wall Street, with Michael Douglas also returning, alongside Shia Lebouf.

What projects interest you?

Go see something good!

NEWS: Eastern Promises to Get a Sequel...

Yes, it's true, no director is afraid of making a sequel to one of his films. However, this, is not out of the realm of true awesomeness. Geek Tyrant reports that David Cronenberg is in the process of working out a sequel to his 2007 hit, Eastern Promises.

There be spoilers coming...proceed at your own risk. However, if you haven't seen Eastern Promises, than you shouldn't be reading this, as it is taking time away from you driving to your local video store and renting it.

If you remember at trhe end of the movie Viggo Mortensens characters turns a under cover British Agent. This is what will set up the next film, Cronenberg want’s to tell more stories about this character.

“We are moving forward with it. We all are excited about the idea of doing a sequel.”

Yes, they are all excited! All includes Viggo Mortensen, writer Steven Knight, producer Paul Webster and the studio, Focus.

“I have some very strong ideas about what I would like to see, but I would like to hear what they have to say as well.”

Cronenberg has not made a sequel to a film yet so this would be his first.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been in a situation where I actually want to do a sequel to something…But in this case, I thought we had unfinished business with those characters. I didn’t feel that we had finished with Nikolai and we had done a lot of research that was more than we could stuff into that one movie.”

Now, this is the difference between a sequel that has potential, and one that doesn't. The difference between this film and say, Mulan 2, is that this looks like all the components are going to be back. Director, cast, crew, and hopefully quality will all be coming back for EP2. More news on this really interesting story as it comes!

Go see something good!

NEWS: Halloween Sequel, Tin Tin, and Phoenix...

Hey guys! So, it's the eve of the '08 Election, and surprisingly, there is quite a bit of movie news. Here are your headlines!

- It looks like Joaquin Phoenix wasn't lying after all. Thanks to Yahoo! for this information...

The words “Good Bye” were penned on the actor’s knuckles at a premiere Saturday night for his latest film, “Two Lovers,” and Phoenix confirmed a surprise announcement he made last week: He’s giving up movies.

“I think it’s just moving on. It’s rediscovering something else,” said Phoenix, 34, said in an interview with Associated Press Television News before Saturday’s American Film Institute festival, which also premiered “Che,” starring Benicio Del Toro. “Two Lovers” is his last film, he said. His publicist had disclosed Friday that the actor intended to focus on music.

What do you guys think? I'm sad to see him leave film, but the guy does have some musical chops, so who knows, it may work out. Best of wishes...

- Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen has wrapped principal photography...

- The upcoming sequel to Rob Zombies Halloween reboot is getting a theatrical release. The film will not have Rob Zombie at the helm, and actually, Zombie will have nothing to do with this sequel.

- Steven Speilberg and Peter Jackson have obtained financing for TWO Tin Tin Films, instead of the projected three...

- Heroes co writers/producers Jesse Alexander and Jeph Lobe have been fired by NBC...

- Here's an update from a story I wrote about at the end of last week. It looks as though Universal has won the alleged biding war over the EA Games video-game, that has yet to even be announced, tentatively called Dante's Inferno.

- Fox Studios is CONSIDERING rebooting the now dead franchise, Planet of The Apes...

- Finally, Max Allan Collins has been signed on to write two new sequels for the Sam Mendes directed, critic favorite, Road to Perdition. The man behind the original Road to Perdition comics will pen the scripts for the upcoming Road To Purgatory and Road to Paradise...

I lied yesterday when I said I would be seeing Rachel Getting Married, and while that may still happen, it looks like I'll get the pleasure to review Role Models for you all. Now, I said it would never get this money, and it won't, because at Grand Valley State University, they like to give away free tickets for advanced screenings. Expect a review on Thursday night...

Go see something good!

A Little Birdy Told Me...

Alright guys. It's late, and I was just surfing my favorite film blogs, and stumbled upon this true gem of an update from /film...


UPDATE: The trades are reporting that Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg (co-exec producers/writers on NBC’s The Office) have officially been hired by Columbia Pictures/Sony to pen the script for Ghostbusters 3. The script will reportedly bring together the original cast including Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray and Ernie Hudson, Slimer?, though none of the actors have officially signed to reprise their roles. The Hollywood Reporter says that Ghostbusters I and II director Ivan Reitman is “aware and involved” in the project’s development. The “next-gen” storyline has also been confirmed, though no specifics were offered. Read below for further info on this aspect.


The original cast is back, Reitman is involved, and the "next-gen" aspect will be intact. Now, the only thing that is yet to be confirmed, is who exactly the next gen characters will be, and who exactly will play them. Rumor has it that Aykroyd has been talking to Judd Apatow to see if any of his cohorts would be interested. The initial plan was to have the four main guys from the 40 Year Old Virgin, to take over the reigns. One problem however. I'm not the biggest fan of the Office, so hearing that the writers from the show are set to pen it, has be a little suspect. What are your thoughts? Is this a film that will even be on your radar? Does it matter who they get to take over?

Fast and Furious Trailer...

Sequel to the hit film The Fast and The Furious, which I actually did kinda like, although it really is just a blatant rip off of Point Break, and this time, the original cast is back...

What are your thoughts on this trailer???