Exclusives
UPDATE: Munroe’s Undead Wrestler ‘El Zombo’ Coming to the Big Screen
Update: Kevin Munroe talks about the project inside: During our interview with director Kevin Munroe, he revealed to Bloody-Disgusting exclusively that after filming both DEAD OF NIGHT and WAR MONKEYS he plans on developing a feature film adaptation to Dark Horse’s El Zombo series. You can read all about it inside.
“El Zombo is one of those things that I would really like to see done,” Munroe tells Bloody-Disgusting in an exclusive interview. “ It’s always been that one project that we’ve wanted to work on. It’s no one’s fault, it’s just… you need to pay rent and you don’t get to pay attention to everything. I would like to make that a priority if not by the end of this year, next.
“It’s a great story. Chris Patton, Robert Sanchez and myself are starting a new production company just for movies like this, where they feel sort of familiar, but at the same time it’s sort of a combination of all different genres,” he explains. “El Zombo is exactly that, it’s like ‘Me and my Monster’, albeit with an undead Mexican zombie. So I would love to have that movie be one of the first ones we set up, it has a real universal appeal; even amongst the sea of weirdness, there’s something really relatable to it.”
ZOMBO is the story of the unlikely friendship between a temperamental undead wrestler and an equally difficult 10-year-old girl from East L.A. Pro wrestling champ El Zombo gets a second lease on life after being unceremoniously murdered in a back alley for refusing to take a dive in the ring. His deal is to return to Earth to help Belisa Montoya – a troubled girl about to fall victim to a horrible unknown accident. Returning at first for selfish reasons of revenge, El Zombo soon finds himself at a crossroads, forced to choose between his own vengeance and saving the life of this girl he now deeply cares for. Watch this spot for more details this week.
Munroe talks a bit more about the comic, which EL ZOMBO will be adapted from.
“There are 3 issues, it came out in like 2002, 2003? It’s funny, all these Marvel and DC properties are eaten up, so you’re gonna start seeing movies based on comics that aren’t typical superhero comic stories. Even Hellboy, it’s not a regular superhero, it’s a really compelling story. There are as many comics as there are TV stations, but to John Q Public, they are just now catching on to that.”
Watch for more on this next year.
Exclusives
New Documentaries Explore the Cult Legacies of ‘The Keep’ and ‘Wolfen’; Watch the Trailers Now [Exclusive]
Undersung werewolf gem Wolfen and Michael Mann’s The Keep get the spotlight in a pair of feature documentaries acquired by Antenna Releasing.
A World War II Fairy Tale, which covers the infamous production of and reception to The Keep, will receive a limited theatrical release in October, followed by a TVOD release on Apple/Amazon. The Keep will also screen as a double feature for some showings.
For Uncovering Wolfen, Antenna eyes a limited theatrical release for 2027. Both films are currently available for booking via Antenna prior to their theatrical and digital releases.
Both documentaries are directed by Stewart Buck, who co-helms with Stéphane Piter on A World War II Fairy Tale.
“We at Antenna are obsessed with film history,” said Chief Acquisitions Officer Billy Ray Brewton. “Stewart has done such a remarkable job of really diving into the deepest recesses of how these films were made and, in doing so, has created the definitive histories of both projects.”
“We’re delighted to be partnering with Antenna Releasing!” said director Buck. “It’s refreshing to see a filmmaker-friendly approach to distribution with people who know what it’s like to be in the trenches with independent projects that struggle to find a home in the crowded marketplace.”
Check out our exclusive trailer and poster reveal of both documentaries below.
Released in 1983, Michael Mann’s The Keep was a notorious box office bomb, critically lambasted and all but forgotten for years, save for the fascination with Tangerine Dream’s iconic score. In recent years, the film has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence and is widely considered a cult classic, though director Michael Mann and many cast members refuse to acknowledge it.
Wolfen, on the other hand, was critical success but was overshadowed heavily by its flashier 1981 siblings An American Werewolf in London and The Howling. It’s also a trailblazer for socio-political horror, and the doc will explore that via the craftspeople who made it.
Look for them both in theaters soon. Stay tuned for more as it arrives.
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