Movies
Mark Smith Talks Untitled Paramount/Platinum Dunes Feature
A few weeks back it was announced that Paramount had set up an untitled horror project penned by Mark L. Smith (Vacancy, The Hole 3D) with Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form along with Room 101’s Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity, Area 51). The project was kept under wraps, so we caught up with Smith to see if we could get any nuggets of info out of him.
Bloody Disgusting: The Variety article announcing this project states that Paramount is keeping the logline “under wraps”, but that it’s in the vein of “I Am Legend”, “Aliens”, and “The Descent”. Doesn’t get much cooler than that! What else can you tell us about the story and how you became involved in writing it?
Mark L. Smith: “I was playing around with something post-apocalyptic, and Steven Schneider gave me a nugget of an idea involving some genetic work gone terribly wrong. So I took part of his idea and combined it with the world I wanted to explore… and we ended up with this story.”
Bloody Disgusting: How has the experience been working with BOTH Platinum Dunes and Room 101 on the project? Both companies are known for high caliber horror films, how are the creative juices flowing?
“They’ve all been great to work with. Platinum Dunes knows exactly what audiences want, and how to deliver it. And Steven and I have been developing the story together for well over a year, so we’re pretty much always on the same page creatively. He and I are actually doing several projects together right now that are all over the spectrum genre-wise.”
Bloody Disgusting: Have you guys been talking to any directors about this yet, and if so which ones? Do you personally have a “dream” director in mind for it?
“They haven’t officially gone out yet, but I know several directors that have approached the producers… don’t think I’m supposed to say who though. And yes, I’ve got someone I think would be perfect… and he’s interested, so we’ll see if I get lucky.”
Bloody Disgusting: You’re quickly becoming a name in horror, what attracts you to the genre? What are some of your favorite films?
“I love the visceral reaction you can create with horror films… nothing beats being able to really scare someone. I do it to my kids all the time… they hate me. As far as favorite films… is JAWS considered a horror film? I’ve heard that debated, but for me, that set the bar… I love a slow build in horror/thrillers, where you have time to really get invested in the characters, rather than have them just be “victims in waiting”.”
Bloody Disgusting: You’ve written the thriller Vacancy and the children’s horror film The Hole, what makes this very different from those?
“It’s a little more sci-fi and thought provoking. There are also a lot of twists and turns in this story as opposed to a Vacancy, where a couple is trapped in a motel room, or The Hole where a pair of brothers find a bottomless pit in their basement that holds their darkest fears. Those were a little more straight-forward. This new one taps into some different emotions.”
Movies
’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men), the director and writer behind 2002’s hit horror film 28 Days Later, are reteaming for the long-awaited sequel, 28 Years Later. THR reports that the sequel has cast Jodie Comer (Alone in the Dark, “Killing Eve”), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kraven the Hunter), and Ralph Fiennes (The Menu).
The plan is for Garland to write 28 Years Later and Boyle to direct, with Garland also planning on writing at least one more sequel to the franchise – director Nia DaCosta is currently in talks to helm the second installment.
No word on plot details as of this time, or who Comer, Taylor-Johnson, and Fiennes may play.
28 Days Later received a follow up in 2007 with 28 Weeks Later, which was executive produced by Boyle and Garland but directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Now, the pair hope to launch a new trilogy with 28 Years Later. The plan is for Garland to write all three entries, with Boyle helming the first installment.
Boyle and Garland will also produce alongside original producer Andrew Macdonald and Peter Rice, the former head of Fox Searchlight Pictures, the division of one-time studio Twentieth Century Fox that originally backed the British-made movie and its sequel.
The original film starred Cillian Murphy “as a man who wakes up from a coma after a bicycle accident to find England now a desolate, post-apocalyptic collapse, thanks to a virus that turned its victims into raging killers. The man then navigates the landscape, meeting a survivor played by Naomie Harris and a maniacal army major, played by Christopher Eccleston.”
Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) is on board as executive producer, though the actor isn’t set to appear in the film…yet.
Talks of a third installment in the franchise have been coming and going for the last several years now – at one point, it was going to be titled 28 Months Later – but it looks like this one is finally getting off the ground here in 2024 thanks to this casting news. Stay tuned for more updates soon!
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