Movies
[Sundance ’12] Anchor Bay Acquires Coming-Of-Age Horror ‘Excision’
Anchor Bay Films announced today the acquisition of all North American distribution rights to director/writer Richard Bates, Jr.’s debut feature film, Excision (review), which made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival last month. Produced by Dylan Hale Lewis, the horror film features an all-star cast including: AnnaLynne McCord (“90210”), Traci Lords (Cry Baby), Ariel Winter (“Modern Family”), Roger Bart (“Desperate Housewives”), Jeremy Sumpter (Soul Surfer), Malcolm McDowell, Matthew Gray Gubler (“Criminal Minds”), Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin (Children of a Lesser God), Ray Wise (Good Night, and Good Luck) and John Waters.
“ ‘Excision’ is the story of Pauline (McCord), a delusional teenage outcast. Pauline picks scabs. Pauline dissects road kill. Pauline fantasizes about performing surgery on strangers. Her fascinations disturb her schoolmates and her parents, Phyllis (Lords) and Bob (Bart). No one understands Pauline except for Grace (Winter), her younger sister who suffers from cystic fibrosis. An outcast at school and at home, Pauline is convinced that the best way to repair her estranged relationship with her family is to perform a risky operation to save her sister’s life.”
Ryan Daley had this to say in his review of the film: “It’s like a Shakespearean tragedy without the Shakespeare. In the end, all of the subconscious craziness in ‘Excision’ is just an unnecessary afterthought tacked onto an insightful coming-of-age story.”
Keep up with all of our Sundance coverage here.
Movies
‘Mountain Man’ – Joe Manganiello Will Battle Zombies in Upcoming Horror Movie
Keith C. Blackmore’s book series Mountain Man is headed to the screen, with Deadline reporting today that Joe Manganiello (“True Blood”) is on board to star in the film adaptation.
The actor will also produce the upcoming zombie movie.
“Mountain Man tells the story of Gus, a lonely post-apocalyptic survivor facing isolation and the ever-present specter of a zombie attack, who struggles with alcohol abuse and suicidal thoughts until he discovers another survivor, a captivating woman who poses another threat altogether.”
John Lee (False Positive) will direct Mountain Man from a script by Matt Deller.
“John is a brilliant creative mind. We’ve been looking for the right thing to do together since we filmed Pee Wee’s Big Holiday and it’s finally here,” 3:59’s Joe and Nick Manganiello told Deadline. “Very excited to get to work on such weird, wild project with him.”
Film Bridge International is launching sales on the project in Cannes.
Blackmore’s Mountain Man series features 7 books, the first one published in 2011.