Movies
Hail Paimon! You Can Read Ari Aster’s ‘Hereditary’ Screenplay!
Screenwriting can be such an underappreciated craft in Hollywood, especially in the way we perceive a film’s success or failure. Often times, a bad film gets blamed on the script, while the director gets much of the credit in the wake of a success. It’s the unfair truth of Hollywood. It’s one of the reasons I used to enjoy reading screenplays with my spare time – you can learn a lot about a film just from diving into the script. (A great example is the phenomenal A Nightmare On Elm Street remake screenplay written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, which was butchered by music video director Samuel Bayer.)
Beyond the educational value, it’s fun to see how the script compares to what ended up on screen and if there are any variations to what was presented (what reads strong on paper could end up on the cutting room floor). Such the case with Ari Aster‘s masterpiece, Hereditary, which I believe will be nominated for multiple Academy Awards – one of which will be for Aster’s original screenplay. While I haven’t had the chance to read through it yet, Aster’s screenplay is available online, and a quick skim gives me the impression that much of what he wrote ending up word-for-word on screen. If you too believe Hereditary is a masterpiece, it all started at the scripting stage, which makes this an amazing opportunity to be able to get inside Aster’s mind as he wrote one of the most chilling films ever made. (It would behoove aspiring filmmakers to read through and see what they can take away from it.) Read it here.
Movies
‘The Exorcism’ Trailer – Russell Crowe Gets Possessed in Meta Horror Movie from Producer Kevin Williamson
Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist) is starring in a brand new meta possession horror movie titled The Exorcism, and Vertical has unleashed the official trailer this afternoon.
Vertical has picked up the North American rights to The Exorcism, which they’ll be bringing to theaters on June 7. Shudder is also on board to bring the film home later this year.
Joshua John Miller, who wrote 2015’s The Final Girls and also starred in films including Near Dark and And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, directed The Exorcism.
Joshua John Miller also wrote the script with M.A. Fortin (The Final Girls). This one is personal for Miller, as his late father was the star of the best possession movie ever made.
Miller said in a statement this week, “The origins of the film stem from my childhood spent watching my father, Jason Miller, playing the doomed Father Karras flinging himself out a window at the climax of The Exorcist. If that wasn’t haunting enough on its own, my dad never shied away from telling me stories of just how “cursed” the movie was: the mysterious fires that plagued the production, the strange deaths, the lifelong injuries— the list went on and on. The lore of any “cursed film” has captivated me ever since.”
“With The Exorcism, we wanted to update the possession movie formula (“Heroic man rescues woman from forces she’s too weak and simple to battle herself!”) for a world where no one group owns goodness and decency over another,” he adds. “We were gifted with an extraordinary cast and creative team to tell a story about how we’re all vulnerable to darkness, to perpetuating it, if we fail to face our demons. The devil may retaliate, but what other choice do we have?”
The film had previously been announced under the title The Georgetown Project.
“The Exorcism follows Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.”
Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water), Chloe Bailey (Praise This), Adam Goldberg (The Equalizer) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) also star.
Of particular note, Kevin Williamson (Scream, Sick) produced The Exorcism.
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