Movies
‘When Evil Lurks’ Director Developing Vampire Comedy ‘FELIX: A Complex Puzzle’
Writer/Director Demián Rugna is keeping busy. The filmmaker is not only developing a sequel to When Evil Lurks but a new vampire horror-comedy, FELIX: A Complex Puzzle, too, per a new press release.
Not only does Felix sound like a break from tone from Rugna, but it also sounds like a break from standard vampire fare: the vampire will be hunting down his own body parts this time.
The film follows “Omin, a hard-partying vampire playboy and leader of the notorious ‘Blood-Suckers’ clan. After falling into a river during a wild yacht bender, Omin is presumed dead and sent to the morgue, where doctors mistakenly harvest all his organs, including a lung. Waking up the next morning, disoriented and dismembered, Omin rallies vampire bounty hunters from across the globe—from Romania to Indigenous American clans—to track down his missing body parts. Meanwhile, in the Big City, we meet Felix, a hypochondriac night tour guide unknowingly about to become part of the bloody puzzle.”
“Felix is a super fun, spooky comedy in the vampire world that plays a lot with horror and dark comedy. It features endearing characters and draws a lot of influence from films like Fright Night and Lost Boys. It explores my very peculiar comedy style without losing my genre director signature, as in every project,“ Rugna said in a statement.
The vampire comedy is being produced by Guido Rud, CEO of FilmSharks, who said, “The script is complete. It’s a vampire comedy, and the script is masterful. It’s got fresh takes on themes like masculinity and excess. And elements of a road trip movie. It’ll be a masterpiece.”
Rugna is quickly emerging as a vital new voice in horror with films like When Evil Lurks and Terrified, and it’ll be interesting to see the filmmaker take on the horror-comedy next.
Stay tuned.
The first plot details have finally arrived for Netflix’s upcoming feature adaptation of Gears of War, and it sounds like it’s venturing into prequel territory.
Matt Booty, Xbox’s executive vice president and chief content officer, provided EW with more insight into the feature adaptation while speaking on the state of Xbox at its 25th anniversary, revealing that it’s set before the video games.
Netflix’s Gears of War will tell “the origin story of Delta Squad, a ragtag crew of soldiers who wage a desperate war for survival against the Locust, a race of subterranean creatures set on destroying humanity,” according to the official description.
“The game really is about the bonds between teams. It’s about brotherhood at its core,” Booty told EW. “When you go visit the studio, their tagline is ‘Never Fight Alone.’ So when you think about that for a dramatic narrative, it’s a pretty good starting point.”
Jon Spaihts (Prometheus, Doctor Strange, Dune) pens the new adaptation, with David Leitch (Deadpool 2, Bullet Train) set to direct.
The 2006 game is set “on a planet on the brink of societal collapse when a monstrous threat in the form of underground creatures known as the Locust take humanity to the verge of extinction. Delta Squad, a ragtag fireteam led by disgraced sergeant Marcus Fenix, is now charged with leading humanity’s last stand.”
The game’s popularity launched a franchise that includes several spin-off and sequel games, comic books, and novels. Gears of War: E-Day, the sixth game in the main series, will arrive as an Xbox console exclusive on October 6.
Netflix acquired Gears rights back in November 2022 with grand plans for the IP; the streamer hopes to also launch an animated series.