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Eli Roth ‘Clown’ Short Becomes Feature, ‘Aftershock’

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Back in October we brought you a pretty awesome Halloween treat: a mock trailer for Clown, which was assembled using Eli Roth’s name as the crux for the joke. While it was funny, it was actually a pretty sweet idea for a feature as it followed a dad who puts on a clown costume for his kid’s birthday, only to have it transform into an evil clown creature. The treat is now a full blown bag of candy as a feature film version was financed, with Roth coming aboard to produce. You’ll find the full details inside, along with info a second project, Aftershock, which takes place following the Chilean earthquake.
From Deadline:

Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) is at the center of Clown and Aftershock, two horror projects that have just been set up to be fully financed by Cross Creek Pictures and Vertebra Films. Roth will produce and be the creative godfather of both.

Jon Watts will direct Clown from a script he’s writing with Christopher D. Ford that spawned from a mock trailer they made (watch it below), which appropriated Roth’s name at a time when he’d never heard of the team or the movie concept. In the spoof trailer and the upcoming feature, a loving father dons a clown outfit, wig, bulbous nose and pancake makeup to entertain at his son’s sixth birthday after the clown-for-hire is a no-show. Unable to take off the clown garb, dad’s personality changes in horrific fashion. He and his family race to break the curse of the evil outfit before he undergoes a complete transformation into a homicidal killer with over-sized shoes.

Ford and Watts do commercials and music videos, and they generated the spoof trailer to get attention. It worked when Roth liked what he saw. CAA set Roth up with Cross Creek president Brian Oliver and Vertebra’s Steven Chester Prince to generate films, he showed them the mock trailer and they agreed to fund a feature transfer.

They also agreed to finance Aftershock, a thriller which Nicolas Lopez will direct from a script he has written with Guillermo Amoedo. Lopez hails from Chile, and the film is set during the aftermath of the February 27, 2010 Chilean earthquake that hit 8.8 on the Richter scale, created a tsunami and claimed the lives of more than 480 in one terrifying event.

Speaking of Clown, Roth hopes it’ll be a modern Fly: “I loved how ballsy they were, issuing a trailer that said, ‘From the Master of Horror, Eli Roth.’ Some people thought I’d made the movie, or that it was another fake Grindhouse trailer. The first thing they said was, ‘Thank you for not suing us, but I told them, ‘This is Hollywood, and while it’s tradition that every movie eventually ends up in a lawsuit, you only sue when you are fighting over profits. It’s no fun to sue before there’s any money.’ But I really felt these guys deserved a shot, and that people are truly freaked out by evil clowns. It’s new territory to make this a version of The Fly, where this guy can feel himself changing, blacking out only to find blood all over his clown suit. You’re sympathetic toward a monster until the monster actually takes over.

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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Don Mancini in the “Early Stages” of Working On a New “Chucky” Movie!

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Chucky death

Everyone’s favorite killer doll is headed back to the small screen with “Chucky” Season 3: Part 2 on April 10, but are any further movies being planned at this time?

Created by Don Mancini, the “Chucky” television series remarkably plays around with existing elements from all previous films without disregarding ANYTHING from the past. From the original Child’s Play to sequels including Child’s Play 2, Bride of Chucky and even Seed of Chucky, it’s all one cohesive timeline that Mancini remains deeply committed to.

Of course, the most recent film in the Child’s Play franchise was the 2019 remake, to date the only movie in the saga that’s NOT part of Mancini’s vision. Is Mancini’s original incarnation going to spend his final days on TV, while another Chucky will be featured in the movies? It’s a question we’ve been asking ourselves for the last few years, and we may now have an answer.

Speaking with the Scream Dreams Podcast this week, Mancini revealed that he’s in the early stages of development on a potential new installment in the original Chucky film franchise!

new Chucky movie

CHUCKY — “Jennifer’s Body” Episode 303 — Pictured in this screengrab: Chucky — (Photo by: SYFY)

“Like anyone in this business, I want to do more things. At this point though if it’s only Chucky I’m totally cool with that,” Mancini explains. “I have other things I want to do. I’m working on a new pilot. I’m also, actually, in the early stages of working on a new Chucky movie.”

Mancini adds, “At this point, my goal is just to keep working.”

Outside of the aforementioned Child’s Play remake, there are to date seven installments in the franchise, with Cult of Chucky (2017) being the original franchise’s most recent film.

For now, Chucky remains a small screen icon. Don’t miss the premiere of Season 3: Part 2 on both USA and SYFY on April 10, with new episodes hitting Peacock the day after they air.

You can watch Don Mancini’s full chat with Scream Dreams below.

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