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Russian ‘Empire V’ to “Redefine the Vampire Genre”

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Fans of Timur Bekmambetov’s Day Watch franchise get ready for more Russian vamps as cult Russian novelist Viktor Pelevin‘s vision of modern Russia as a vampire nation is to be turned into a feature film by New York and Moscow-based writer-director-producer Victor Ginzburg, who has acquired the rights.

Ginzburg, who released his first feature last month, an adaptation of Pelevin’s “Generation P” — a bizarre journey through the drugs and power-driven world of advertising in Russia in the early 1990s — says Empire V is a loose sequel that takes off in even more weird directions.

This film is going to redefine the vampire genre — which Pelevin has already done in the book,” said Ginzburg.

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It is an unbelievable discourse on current human society and its obsession with blood, beauty and money, which at the core is a coming of age story of a young vampire and a love story set in contemporary Moscow.

For those who have seen “Generation P” — with psychedelic mushroom-induced trips into the realms of the Babylonian goddess Ishtar figure, but o vampires — the word ‘sequel’ may be misleading.

The first film’s hero, Babylon Tatarsky is, Ginzburg, says “an accidental figure who figures for five minutes” in the sequel.

Ginzburg, who is in funding talks with a western investment fund and major television channels in Russia, says he has a first draft of a script for the sequel and is mulling whether to shoot in Russian or English and whether or not to make it in 3D.

He hopes to be in pre-production by spring 2012.

I know people think Russian films don’t travel,” Ginzburg said. “But I’m an American filmmaker, and to me Pelevin is more like William Burroughs or William Gibson — somewhere between a state of mind and a state of shock.

Generation P — a $7 million indie-financed project that was four years in the works — has made $5 million at the Russian, Ukrainian and Kazakh box office since it was released mid-April with 540 prints.

Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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Julia Garner Joins Horror Movie ‘Weapons’ from the Director of ‘Barbarian’

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'Apartment 7A' - Filming Wraps on ‘Relic’ Director's Next Starring “Ozark’s” Julia Garner!
Pictured: Julia Garner in 'We Are What We Are'

In addition to Leigh Whannell’s upcoming Universal Monsters movie Wolf Man, Julia Garner (The Royal Hotel) has also joined the cast of Weapons, THR has announced tonight.

Weapons is the new horror movie from New Line Cinema and director Zach Cregger (Barbarian), with Julia Garner joining the previously announced Josh Brolin (Dune 2).

The upcoming Weapons is from writer/director Zach Cregger, who will also produce alongside his Barbarian producing team: Roy Lee of Vertigo and J.D. Lifshitz and Raphael Margules of BoulderLight Pictures. Vertigo’s Miri Yoon also produces.

The Hollywood Reporter teases, “Plot details for Weapons are being kept holstered but it is described as a multi and inter-related story horror epic that tonally is in the vein of Magnolia, the 1999 actor-crammed showcase from filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.”

Cregger was a founding member and writer for the New York comedy troupe “The Whitest Kids U’Know,” which he started while attending The School of Visual Arts. The award-winning group’s self-titled sketch comedy show ran for five seasons on IFC-TV and Fuse. He was also a series regular on Jimmy Fallon’s NBC series “Guys with Kids” and the TBS hit series “Wrecked,” and was featured in a recurring role on the NBC series “About a Boy.”

Weapons will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

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