Movies
‘The Last Exorcism 2’ Has A Director, Will Be Rated ‘R’, Starts Shooting Next Month!
Given the profitability of the original The Last Exorcism, which grossed $62.5 million worldwide on a budget of $1.6 million, a sequel was pretty much a foregone conclusion. We already knew that Damien Chazelle had been tapped to write the The Last Exorcism 2 and that Ashley Bell had once again agreed to star as Nell Sweetzer.
Now we know who’s directing. That’ll be Ed Gass-Donnelly (This Beautiful City, Small Town Murder Songs). And he’ll begin shooting the Eli Roth produced sequel soon. Like, next month soon.
Per Deadline, “Production has been set to begin on the sequel to horror/thriller hit The Last Exorcism next month in New Orleans. Ed Gass-Donnelly will direct the R-rated follow-up to the 2010 PG-13 pic that grossed $70 million worldwide on a budget of $1.5 million. Star Ashley Bell is returning to reprise her role as Nell Sweetzer for the Damien Chazelle-penned film. As with the original, Eli Roth is producing via Arcade Pictures with Eric Newman, Marc Abraham and Tom Bliss producing via Strike Entertainment.”
Interestingly enough, the article indicates that the producers are consciously aiming for an ‘R’ rating for this followup to the PG13 original. Producer Eric Newman, “The first film worked great as a PG-13 psychological film, but now we want to go R-rated and show the true horror of what this subject matter offers. The biggest creative challenge will be coming up with the right title!”
He’s right about the last bit. Is it too late to go the prequel route and call this film The 2nd To Last Exorcism? Whatever it’s called, delivery of the film is expected in late 2012, which I suppose means we’re looking at a January 2013 release date.
The trailer for the upcoming found footage horror movie Sundown seeks to determine whether its haunting is demonic or dementia.
The found footage nightmare is set to premiere at Mad Monster Party in North Carolina and Houston Horror Film Fest in August.
In Sundown, “Mary, whose husband has recently died of dementia, claims his spirit is haunting her house. When her estranged son Chris learns that Mary believes she is being haunted, he arrives with his filmmaker friend Bill and a spiritualist named Clarissa with the intention of proving to Mary that it’s all in her head. They soon discover the truth is far more disturbing than they could have ever imagined.”
Damian Maffei (The Strangers: Prey at Night, Haunt), Emily Sweet (V/H/S/95, Castle Freak), Chris Alexander, Kelly Waters, Erich Rausch, and Michael Leavy (Terrifier, Stream) star.
Sundown is directed by Marcus Slabine (The Dark Offerings) and Brian Klingborg, who also wrote the screenplay.
“The second I read Brian’s script, I knew I wanted to direct it. It had everything I love about horror: grounded characters, mounting tension, and a mystery that keeps getting darker the deeper you go. I feel when found footage is done right, we wanted every scare to feel earned and every performance to feel real, so when the horror finally hits, it hits hard. I’m incredibly proud of what our incredible cast and crew accomplished, and truly can’t wait to unleash the film onto the world,” Slabine said in a statement.
Klingborg adds, “The inspiration for SUNDOWN came from a true story that Chris shared with me about a death in his family. The strange and unsettling events surrounding that experience stayed with me and became the foundation for the screenplay. I wanted to explore the fragile line between love, grief, and horror, and how loss can leave us questioning what’s real. In an incredible twist of fate, we ended up filming SUNDOWN in the very house where the real events took place, adding an authenticity and atmosphere that we could never have recreated anywhere else.”
The upcoming film is not to be confused with Sundown, the vampire revenge movie from Rebekah McKendry.
Check out the trailer and poster below.
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