Exclusives
Writer/Producers Kurtzman & Orci Chew the Fat on ‘Xombie’
Alex Kurtzman & Robert Orci, the writing/producing team behind such films as Transformers and Star Trek, attended the Saturn Awards last Thursday night, and B-D got the opportunity to catch up with them in the press room for some details on their upcoming adaptation (they are producing) of the Flash cartoon/comic book series Xombie. Check out their comments below.
“We have set our targets on a writer who we really like who’s got a great take on it, and that’s a matter of going in and pitching it over to our friends at the studio and having them pay the guy,” said the producing team. “If you read the comic, there is something unique about it terms of the fact that the zombie in a sense is a protagonist in it. And the idea of finding a humanity [in a zombie] is the opposite of any kind of zombie movie that we’ve ever seen and that’s what attracted us to it…I think it’ll be [set in] present day. So think of it as not un-fun, but I think there’s a grittiness to the comic that we wanna preserve…but I don’t wanna commit our writer to too much until he actually writes it.”
As for franchise potential, “We never look at anything [that way]…never count your sequels before they hatch. One movie at a time.”
“Xombie” is based on a Devil’s Due comic book by James Farr, itself based on his online animated series. Farr’s creation centers on a zombie cop named Dirge who attempts to saves humanity’s remnants, particularly a young girl named Zoe, from evil zombies.
Out today in select theaters and on digital platforms is heartfelt and playful documentary Mockbuster, which sees a director cold call a studio and ask to helm a lost-world dinosaur epic.
Inexplicably, they say yes.
Our exclusive clip below highlights both the comedic nature of this bizarre scenario as well as the pressures of shooting dino feature The Land That Time Forgot in a mere six days, with no real feature experience.
A dino attack scene causes friction on set in this scene.
In the documentary, “A struggling filmmaker’s opportunity collides with chaos and compromise when Sharknado’s notorious studio, The Asylum, invites him to direct a ‘mockbuster.’ With six days, a micro budget, and mounting pressure, Mockbuster is a comedic, behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the balance between low-budget filmmaking and creative ambition.”
More than just an inside look at filmmaking via low-budget film studio The Asylum, it doubles as one man’s pursuit of his dreams to charming, humorous effect.
“Mockbuster is a documentary about my own journey, but it’s also a love letter to one of the last grindhouses still functioning in Hollywood. We get to meet the characters and creators of some of the most infamous (and most hated) B-movies of the last few decades. People who make movies purely for profit – no pretension, no artistry, just monsters, C-listers, and chaos. A film that both genre fans and cinephiles can enjoy. But Mockbuster isn’t just about filmmaking, it’s about losing sight of your dreams, and reclaiming them in your own twisted way,” Director Anthony Frith said in a statement.
From Executive Producer and famed documentarian David Farrier, Mockbuster opens in select theaters and on digital platforms beginning July 10.