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Image Acquires Dean Kootnz Adaptation, ‘Odd Thomas’

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Image Entertainment, an RLJ Entertainment brand, has acquired all U.S. rights to the thriller Odd Thomas, based on the original, critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling book by Dean Koontz under the same name. Odd Thomas is the first in a series of seven books, six of which have already been released and have sold a total of over 20 million copies worldwide.

The film was written and directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy franchise, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Van Helsing) and stars Anton Yelchin (Star Trek Into Darkness, Fright Night), Willem Dafoe (Spider-Man franchise, Platoon) and Addison Timlin (“Californication”, “Zero Hour”).

“Odd Thomas (Yelchin) tells the story of a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities. Maybe he has a gift, maybe it’s a curse, Odd has never been sure, but he tries to do his best by the silent souls who seek him out. Sometimes they want justice and he finds himself helping police solve a crime. Occasionally, they prevent one.

One day, however, a mysterious man comes to town with a filing cabinet stuffed with information on the world’s worst killers and a pack of hyena-like shades that follow him wherever he goes. Who the man is and what he wants, not even Odd’s deceased informants can tell him. What happens next is a mysterious battle between light and darkness.

The film was produced by Sommers, John Baldecchi and Howard Kaplan. Budgeted at $30 million dollars, the film uses state of the art visual effects to bring the supernatural elements of the Koontz novels to the big screen.

Image Entertainment is set to release Odd Thomas in Q1 2014.

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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’28 Years Later’ – Ralph Fiennes, Jodie Comer, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson Join Long Awaited Sequel

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28 Days Later, Ralph Fiennes in the Menu
Pictured: Ralph Fiennes in 'The Menu'

Danny Boyle and Alex Garland (AnnihilationMen), 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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