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Anchor Bay Entertainment Label Resurrects with Puppet Horror ‘Abruptio’ and Doc ‘Dinner with Leatherface’

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Anchor Bay Abruptio

A familiar label for horror fans is getting a resurrection. Umbrelic Entertainment co-founders Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz are bringing back a new iteration of Anchor Bay Entertainment with the goal to curate a new library of films for distribution, projects that range from new release genre films, undiscovered treasures, cult classics, and remastered catalog releases.

The new launch comes with a pair of acquisition titles: puppet horror film Abruptio and documentary Dinner with Leatherface.

“We had an opportunity to take the name of a beloved genre film brand, one we feel a personal connection to, for our new company,” says Zambeck in a press release statement. “This is a new ventureunaffiliated with any previous incarnations. We aim to honor the history and spirit of the past as we look for interesting films that break the mold, and will be discovered by new generations for years to come.”

In Lionsgate’s acquisition of Starz in December 2016, the studio absorbed the North American branches of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The Anchor Bay Entertainment trademark was up for acquisition so Zambeck and Katz took the opportunity to acquire it. That means that the new Anchor Bay Entertainment doesn’t include the previous label’s library, but Zambeck and Katz are quickly looking to build up the new library.

Up first on Anchor Bay’s slate?

Look for Abruptio to arrive sometime soon, with a TBA release date for Q2 this year.

Abruptio was written and directed by Evan Marlowe (The Impact). The film stars James Marsters (House of Haunted Hill), Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise), Hana Mae Lee (Pitch Perfect Franchise), Jordan Peele (Get Out), Sid Haig (Halloween), Rich Fulcher (Wonka) and Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise).

In the film, “Les Hackel (Marsters) is a guy down on his luck who wakes to find an explosive device has been implanted in his neck. He must carry out heinous crimes in order to stay alive while trying to identify the mastermind manipulating the now twisted and strange world around him. The film is enacted entirely using lifelike puppets.”

To release this fall is Dinner with Leatherface, “the anticipated documentary on Gunnar Hansen, the actor who portrayed the character Leatherface in the 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Friends, colleagues, filmmakers, and fellow actors share personal stories and discuss the dichotomy between the maniacal chainsaw-wielding character Hansen played on-screen and the very intelligent, creative, soft-spoken man he actually was in real life.”

Interviews with horror mainstays include Bruce Campbell, Barbara Crampton, Betsy Baker, Brian O’Halloran, Kim Henkel, Danielle Harris, Linnea Quigley, Kane Hodder, and Debbie Rochon. The film also features all of the remaining cast of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the original Director of Photography, Daniel Pearl and Producer/Co-Writer Kim Henkel.

Written, executive produced and directed by Michael Kallio (The Skeptic), he also produced the film with Lowell Northrop (“Hap and Leonard”).  Dinner with Leatherface is currently in post-production through Umbrelic’s subsidiary, OutPost X.

Both Zambeck and Katz are traveling to the Berlin International Film Festival to acquire additional films for Anchor Bay Entertainment, so expect to hear a lot more from Anchor Bay soon.

Horror journalist, RT Top Critic, and Critics Choice Association member. Co-Host of the Bloody Disgusting Podcast. Has appeared on PBS series' Monstrum, served on the SXSW Midnighter shorts jury, and moderated horror panels for WonderCon and SeriesFest.

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‘Avengelyne’ – Warner Bros. Adapting Rob Liefeld’s Comic Book with Margot Robbie Potentially Starring

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From Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, the comic book Avengelyne is headed to the big screen courtesy of Warner Bros, with Deadline reporting today that the studio is “negotiating to close a seven figure film rights deal.” Deadline reports, “Most of the deals are closed.”

And check out this creative team that’s coming together. Deadline notes that Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey, Barbie) is eyeing the starring role, with Olivia Wilde (Don’t Worry Darling) directing and Tony McNamara (Poor Things) writing the screenplay.

The website details, “Avengelyne is an angel who fights the forces of evil and often finds herself face-to-face with demons and monsters.”

“She was the most feared warrior in Heaven’s Warhost, having single-handedly broken into Pandemonium, the outer fortress of Hell, to confront the Devil himself. She is a fallen angel, banished from Heaven by God after being tricked into questioning his love for humans. Avengelyne was stripped of all her angelic abilities, other than her great strength and her blood, which, once extracted from her body, could be used as a weapon or a miracle, when it is empowered by quoting verses from the Bible. Avengelyne uses her powers to fight demons on Earth and is being groomed to be humankind’s last hope in a coming Armageddon.”

Margot Robbie’s company LuckyChap will produce the Avengelyne movie adaptation.

Created by Rob Liefeld and Cathy Christian, the Avengelyne character debuted in the comic book Avengelyne: Deadly Sins #1 back in February 1995. Learn more over on Wikipedia.

Margot Robbie in ‘Birds of Prey’

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