Movies
It’s a ‘Scream 4’ Casting Bonanza!
In order for the Kevin Williamson penned sequel to get off the ground, Dimension Films first had to secure the return of Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox, then convince Wes Craven to direct not one, but all three new Scream films. With a July start date looming for Scre4m, Dimension Films has made a slew of offers to fill the roles of the “new young teens” in the latest adventures of good ol’ Ghostface. Who might you see? Read on for the skinny.Lake Bell is in negotiations to join the franchise, and offers are out to Twilight actress Ashley Greene, “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere and Rory Culkin (Twelve) for key starring roles, reports Heat Vision.
Scream 4 reunites Wes Craven with Kevin Williamson, who kicked off a horror- movie revival with his “Scream” script in 1996. The story brings back original cast members Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox, though the new flick is seen as a passing of the baton to a new generation of slasher victims, with Williamson already under contract to write a fifth installment.
If deals are concluded, Greene would play Campbell’s cousin Jill, essentially the heroine of the movie, and Panettiere would play her best friend, a nerdy film geek. Culkin would play a potential love interest for Jill.
Bell is negotiating to play a police officer who knew Sidney (Campbell) from high school.
Casting is proceeding slowly because Craven and Dimension are not sending the script to agencies in order to protect its secrecy. With only character descriptions, actors are having a difficult time deciding whether certain roles are for them. Reps for the actors declined comment.
Craven, Williamson and Iya Labunka are producing the feature, which is slated for an April 15 release. Original producer Cathy Konrad is not aboard the production and is suing the Weinsteins, alleging that she was cut out of Scream 4.
The film will shoot in incentive-rich Michigan. The original was shot in Santa Rosa, Calif.
Pictured: Lake Bell, left, Ashley Greene, Hayden Panettiere and Rory Culkin
Movies
Christopher Landon to Helm Feature Adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s ‘The Final Girl Support Group’
A new feature adaptation of author Grady Hendrix‘s slasher book The Final Girl Support Group is now on the way from Paramount Pictures, and Deadline reports that it’s found its director in Christopher Landon (Drop, Happy Death Day).
The two previously collaborated on My Best Friend’s Exorcism.
In The Final Girl Support Group, “Lynette is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.”
“But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.”
I wrote in my novel review for BD, “Hendrix puts his characters through the absolute wringer. It’s a bloody, vicious voyage for the flawed heroine, both physically and emotionally. In terms of action and horror, Support Group delivers breakneck pacing and thrills.”
Five years ago, Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti (Mama, It, It Chapter Two) were attached to produce a planned series adaptation for HBO Max alongside Charlize Theron. While Theron is no longer producing, the Muschiettis remain on board under their Double Dream label.
Paramount Pictures is also developing Hendrix’s sci-fi novella, BadAsstronauts.
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