Movies
Original Film’s Producer is Plotting a Remake of 1981 Slasher ‘Madman’
Partially inspired by the success of Halloween this year, producer Gary Sales is hoping to get a modern remake of 1981’s Madman off the ground, wherein a psychotic slasher by the name of Madman Marz went on a killing spree at a summer camp. After hearing about his plans, we reached out to Sales for a quick chat, and he gave us the skinny on what’s going on.
Sales, who co-created Madman alongside the late Joe Giannone, has written a script for the remake, he told us, which “springs from the original campfire tale DNA of the ’80s slasher.”
“The Madman remake script is written. I’m in the process, through my agent and my industry contacts, of getting it into the hands of studios, production companies and financiers who see the incredible value and potential of Madman as an Icon of Fright and a horror brand that could last another 38 years,” Sales explained.
He continued, “Madman has a very loyal audience over these many years and we’ve picked up a lot of new audience since the advent of Blu-ray, streaming and the net, so I’m casting a net to bring Madman to everyone around the world that loves horror today. Our fans run from Peoria to Perth and New York to Germany, Sweden and Pakistan. And that includes Quentin Tarantino, who’s always been a champion and great fan of the picture. It was his proramming it at the Alamo Draft House Midnite shows that kept us alive coming into the 21st century.”
As for the approach of the script, Sales touched upon that a little bit in our chat.
“It still opens with its iconic campfire. But there’ll be a new Max telling the tale,” Sales divulged. “And it’s going to be a more interactive tale. Meaning, some of the victims have a chance. There’ll be something to root for. And lastly, without giving away too much… Even before it’s become so popular, I’d been re-writing Madman with a female lead who has to find her courage in the midst of the murder and mayhem of that terrible night.”
If you’d like to keep tabs on this one, follow the project on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Movies
Christopher Landon to Helm Feature Adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s ‘The Final Girl Support Group’
A new feature adaptation of author Grady Hendrix‘s slasher book The Final Girl Support Group is now on the way from Paramount Pictures, and Deadline reports that it’s found its director in Christopher Landon (Drop, Happy Death Day).
The two previously collaborated on My Best Friend’s Exorcism.
In The Final Girl Support Group, “Lynette is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.”
“But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.”
I wrote in my novel review for BD, “Hendrix puts his characters through the absolute wringer. It’s a bloody, vicious voyage for the flawed heroine, both physically and emotionally. In terms of action and horror, Support Group delivers breakneck pacing and thrills.”
Five years ago, Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti (Mama, It, It Chapter Two) were attached to produce a planned series adaptation for HBO Max alongside Charlize Theron. While Theron is no longer producing, the Muschiettis remain on board under their Double Dream label.
Paramount Pictures is also developing Hendrix’s sci-fi novella, BadAsstronauts.
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