Movies
[News Bites] ‘Beetlejuice 2’, ‘Hunger Games’ Viral Ads & ‘Abraham Lincoln’ Imagery
Hoping to survive the news onslaught this weekend, here’s another “News Bites” rounding up some brief stories floating around the web.
The other day STYD, along with a few others news outlets, met with Seth Grahame-Smith about his upcoming film, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, where talked about Michael Keaton’s involvement in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice 2. “It’s a reality in the sense that I met with Michael Keaton last week,” Grahame-Smith told the site. “We talked for a couple of hours and talked about big picture stuff. It’s a priority for Warner Bros. It’s a priority for Tim.” He continues talking about Keaton’s excitement level: “Huge…he’s been wanting to do it for 20 years and he’ll talk to anybody about it who will listen. I really told him, I have a huge reverence for Tim and a huge reverence for that film in general. I don’t think we should do it if we shit on the legacy. He agrees. So, right now, it remains to be seen, I have a couple of story ideas, but we’re very early out.”
The press were also given a new still from Grahame-Smith’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, the Timur Bekmambetov-directed historical retelling that stars Benjamin Walker as the title character. In theaters June 22, “The story revolves around the president’s quest to rid the world of vampires, presented as part of the conflict behind the Civil War.”
Lastly, Lionsgate is going viral with a series of pretty cool motion posters for the Jennifer Lawrence-starrer The Hunger Games, their adaptation in theaters March 23 that mirrors classics like Battle Royale and Running Man. The viral posters are futuristic ads selling products to the “elite”. It’s actually the first time motion posters legitimately make sense. The Gary Ross-directed pic is “set in post-apocalyptic America, Hunger Games introduces 16-year-old heroine Katniss Everdeen, who must participate in a fight-to-the-death annual event called the Hunger Games. The battles are televised, and pit youths from each of the Capitol’s 12 Districts against each other.” Click here for the full gallery of images:
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Movies
R-Rated ‘The X-Files: I Want to Believe’ Director’s Cut Gets New Title and Streaming Premiere Date
After a slight delay, Disney has finally announced a new streaming date for the R-Rated director’s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. According to Gizmodo, it’ll also come with a new title.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn begins streaming on Hulu on August 14.
The new cut was first teased in an interview with director Chris Carter on the Fail Better With David Duchovny podcast from last year, where he teased a much scarier movie he intended.
“Now I have a chance to go back and make the scary movie that I always intended to make,” Carter explained last year. “It’s not just doing a Director’s Cut to do a Director’s Cut. It’s really kind of bringing to life something that for me was on the page and never got to the screen.“
The director’s cut of the film was initially set to arrive on Disney+ in June, but quietly disappeared from the schedule without a word. Polygon reported the delay was “due to some last-minute adjustments being made to the film.”
The release’s new “Vrach Frankenshteyn” title certainly suggests those adjustments have been made, likely referring to a Frankensteining of bonus footage.
In the film, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have been out of the FBI for several years, with Mulder living in isolation and Scully having become a doctor at a Catholic hospital, where she has formed a bond with a critically ill child patient.
When an FBI agent is mysteriously kidnapped, and a former Catholic priest who has been convicted of pedophilia claims to be experiencing psychic visions of the endangered agent, Scully is asked to bring Mulder back to the bureau to consult on the case because of his work with psychics.
The brand new R-rated cut will “faithfully restore the filmmaker’s original vision.”
Look for it on Hulu next month.