Indie
“The Devil On Wheels” Doc to Celebrate Steven Spielberg’s ‘Duel’
UPDATE: A Kickstarter has been launched for this project.
A feature-length documentary, The Devil On Wheels, will celebrate the making and the cult surrounding Duel, the first well known film created by Steven Spielberg. A small shot-for-TV film, Duel has astonished many by generating an ongoing cult for more than four decades amongst film fans.
In Duel, a Movie-Of-The-Week shot in 1971, a terrifying truck, whose driver we never see, for no apparent reason chases a lone driver along the desert roads of Southern California. Such was its success that the film was extended and distributed as a film worldwide.
The Power of a Very Small Film
Duel fans from all over the world regularly visit the film locations in the desert next to Los Angeles. They go to see the surviving truck in North Carolina. Film experts discuss its meanings. Would-be filmmakers analyse the way it was made. Steven Spielberg’s first known work has become a top cinematic reference, an iconic piece of filmmaking and its influence is still fresh to this day. Director Alfonso Cuaron revealed he used Duel as a reference when he made “Gravity”.
Why a tiny film, made cheaply and quickly for TV, has generated such a passionate, international and undying cult, is the question the documentary wants to answer. The Devil On Wheels will find out what makes Duel so unique, looking deeply into the Duel’s phenomenon and in doing so, it will explore the power and fascination that films have on people.
An International Crew
The documentary will be shot in the USA by a team of five international Duel lovers who will travel the country exploring the Duel phenomenon: interviewing the surviving members of the crew, reconstructing the way the movie was made, and meeting other fans and experts to discuss the ongoing appreciation of the film.
The Devil On Wheels Productions will run a crowd funding campaign to allow fans to participate in the making of the documentary. The campaign will be on Kickstarter from Wednesday 4th March and will run for 30 days on an all-or-nothing basis. Duel has not only generated a cult amongst film fans, but amongst truck lovers too, for whom the protagonist Peterbilt 281 has become an icon.
A Crossroads for Duel Fans
The filmmakers have created a website, www.thedevilonwheelsmovie.com, which for the first time gathers in one place all Duel related information to be found on the internet. The Facebook page will serve as a meeting point for the fans. An actual gathering with Duel fans is planned in one of the locations during the shooting of the documentary.
Director Enric Folch, a multi-award winning TV director in Spain, returns to documentary making after the excellent international reception of Chining Me, an ironical view on pre-Olympic China. His most successful TV film Tempus Fugit will soon have a theatrical remake through an international coproduction.
The title of the documentary, The Devil On Wheels, is the straight translation of the Spanish title of Duel, and it’s been chosen as an homage to the worldwide recognition of the film.
For more information about the documentary and the crowd funding campaign, please visit the website and the Facebook page.
The Wayans are out to cancel the Cancel Culture with Scary Movie, and the cast assures it will do just that.
“They sort of have an across-the-board style,” Anna Faris tells EW. “It’s always been a part of the Wayans Brothers, their electricity. ‘Can we offend you? Will you still love us? Come on, you still love us, don’t you?'”
Regina Hall concurs, promising the “boundary-pushing” sixth installment in the horror parody franchise will “offend everyone.”
EW has shared a batch of behind-the-scenes images from Scary Movie, which hits theaters June 5 via Paramount.
Faris and Hall are joined by fellow franchise favorites Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Dave Sheridan, Lochlyn Munro, Cheri Oteri, Chris Elliott, and Jon Abrahams in the legacy sequel.
The ensemble includes Damon Wayans Jr., Gregg Wayans, Kim Wayans, Benny Zielke, Cameron Scott Roberts, Heidi Gardner, Olivia Rose Keegan, Ruby Snowber, Savannah Lee Nassif, Sydney Park, Kenan Thompson, and Felissa Rose.
Michael Tiddes (A Haunted House) directs from a script by Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, original Scary Movie director Keenen Ivory Wayans, Craig Wayans (Scary Movie 2), and Rick Alvarez (A Haunted House).
The film will slash through reboots, remakes, requels, prequels, sequels, spin-offs, elevated horror, origin stories, anything with the word legacy in it, and every “final chapter” that absolutely isn’t final.
Scary Movie launched in 2000, followed by Scary Movie 2 in 2001. The Wayans’ involvement ended there, but the series continued with 2003’s Scary Movie 3, 2006’s Scary Movie 4, and 2013’s Scary Movie 5.
Regina Hall & Marlon Wayans on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Anna Faris on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Marlon Wayans & Regina Hall on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Michael Tiddes & Anna Faris on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Marlon Wayans on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
Regina Hall & Anna Faris on the set of ‘Scary Movie.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures.
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