Exclusives
General Mills Bringing Legendary Breakfast Cereal to the Big Screen
Vampires, Frankenstein and ghosts, what do they have in common? Yeah, they’re all popular as hell. Sure, they’re all the undead. You betcha, they’ve been around for nearly an eternity. But you’d be wrong in this instance, as what ties these three ghouls together is breakfast cereal! Bloody Disgusting learned that General Mills has optioned off the rights to some of your favorite horror breakfast icons. Read on for more.
The Twilight franchise has invigorated the vampire world, bringing films like Vlad, The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Let Me In into development. Frankenstein is being built again in films like I, Frankenstein, and Guillermo del Toro’s re-imagining of the classic Marry Shelly novel. Then there’s Paranormal Activity, which has made the spooks the hottest thing since torture.
General Mills recognized the desire for new properties and has optioned the rights for three popular breakfast cereals to Summit Entertainment.
Franken Berry, Boo Berry and Count Chocula are all being developed for the big screen.
Some quick facts: The project is being slated as a trilogy. They will be CG characters. It will be released in digital 3D. They will be shot back-to-back-to-back.
The director is being kept under wraps at the moment, but we were able to finagle out a few (voice) casting choices.
FRANKENBERRY: JOHN C REILLY, WILL FERRELL, SETH ROGAN
BOO BERRY: JOHN TRAVOLTA, ROBIN WILLIAMS, WILL ARNETT
COUNT CHOCULA: ROBBERT PATTINSON, SAMUEL JACKSON, MICHAEL KEATON
“Who doesn’t like cartoons, cereal and horror?” an insider asked us. “The plan is to make these more mystical and magical than scary,” he added. “We’re big fans of the Twilight franchise and think there’s an untapped market with teens who not only love horror, but love breakfast. Imagine Franken Berry – who will be female in the film – falling in love with his creator, or how about Count Chocula and his obsession with chocolate that causes a rift between himself and his wife, Countess Chocula. It’s all really cool stuff. The best is going to be Boo Berry, a ghost trapped in the real world in order to teach kids about how important it is to eat breakfast to start their day.
“We think that there are great messages that can be told to kids without any violence or sex…and think about how many boxes of cereal will be sold!”
Speaking of cereal boxes, we’re told a major tie-in is planned as when the movies arrive in theaters, General Mills plans a major “prize in the box” push where kids can get their 3-D glasses in a box of one of the 3 cereals.
Summit is also developing a traditionally animated Frute Brute film, which will be sent directly to DVD. “We know if we didn’t do something with Frute Brute, the fans would complain” a Summit spokesman explained. “But you can forget about Yummy Mummy.”
Production is to get underway this month with a wrap date on all three films slated for April 1, 2011. The tentative release date is April 1, 2012, April 1, 2013, and April 1, 2014. Mark your calendars. – Mr. Disgusting/BC
Daniel Roebuck has been cast as Santa Claus in Terrifier 3, Bloody Disgusting can exclusively report.
Writer-director Damien Leone is currently wrapping production on the highly-anticipated sequel, in which Art the Clown unleashes chaos on the unsuspecting residents of Miles County as they peacefully drift off to sleep on Christmas Eve.
“I’ve been holding this secret for a long time!” Roebuck tells Bloody Disgusting. “I’ve been really excited about it. I’m actually entering into the movies that I watch. It’s extraordinary. This is Terrifier bigger, badder, best.”
Roebuck appears in Terrifier 3 alongside returning cast members David Howard Thornton, Lauren LaVera, Samantha Scaffidi, Elliot Fullam, and AEW superstar Chris Jericho.
No stranger to iconic horror properties, Roebuck has squared off against Michael Myers in Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, played The Count in Zombie’s The Munsters, succumbed to The Tall Man’s sphere in Phantasm: Ravager, and investigated death in Final Destination.
A distinguished character actor with over 250 credits, Roebuck has also appeared in The Devil’s Rejects, 3 from Hell, Bubba Ho-Tep, John Dies at the End, The Fugitive, Lost, Agent Cody Banks, and The Man in the High Castle. Incidentally, he’s also playing Santa in the family drama Saint Nick of Bethlehem, due out later this year.
Terrifier 3 will be released in theaters nationwide later this year via Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting in conjunction with our partner on Terrifier 2, Iconic Events Releasing.
Terrifier 3 comes courtesy of Dark Age Cinema Productions. Phil Falcone Produces with Lisa Falcone acting as Executive Producer. Co-producers include Mike Leavy, Jason Leavy, George Steuber, and Steve Della Salla. Brad Miska, Brandon Hill, and Erick Opeka Executive Produce for Cineverse. Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor also Executive Produce.
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