Movies
Frank Darabont Rewriting ‘Godzilla’ As Producers Dan Lin And Roy Lee Exit The Project
Update: Per AICN the film starts shooting on March 14th in Vancouver and Hawaii and will operate under the working title of “Nautilus.”
Legendary and Warner Bros.’ claim that their Gareth Edwards directed Godzilla remake is due to start shooting in March – but it hit more than a few snags over the weekend. One potentially good development is that Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, “The Walking Dead”) has been hired to do a pass on the script. I’m not sure how they can fully accomodate and implement a rewrite in time for a March start date, but weirder things have happened. Then comes the news that producers Dan Lin (Sherlock Holmes, Gangster Squad) and Roy Lee (The Departed, The Strangers, The Grudge) have been let go from the project.
This could potentially head to lawsuit country, there have been some reports that the parting is amicable, but this morning it appears as though all is not well. Per Deadline, “Actually, it could prove as toxic to Godzilla than the time the fire breather took on the smog monster Hedorah. This one’s going to wind up in the courts, I’m told. My understanding is, Lin and Lee refused to reduce the fees they signed on for when the original deal was made. Legendary brass feels it has the latitude to get rid of them, and is doing just that, exercising a pay or play clause and paying them upfront money to go away, with no back-end or credit on the film. The potential back-end on a global franchise is where the big bucks are.”
Yikes. Godzilla is still (sort of) expected to hit theaters May 16th, 2014.
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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