Indie
Solid French Production Co. Brings You ‘Section Eight’ on MySpace!
Some pretty exciting news was announced this evening via The Hollywood Reporter who writes that Paramount’s digital unit and French producer-distributor Gaumont are teaming up for an online original series that will premiere exclusively on MySpace entitled Section Eight. Gaumont has brought you the forthcoming The Broken, High Lane and the Guillermo del Toro produced Splice. Read on for the skinny.
The series, titled “Section Eight,” is a supernatural thriller with a “Ten Little Indians” conceit: Characters are knocked off one by one, with viewers given clues as to who is trying to kill them and why. About 12 episodes are planned, with production set for June and the first episode likely to begin streaming in September.
Unlike past efforts from the studio’s digital group, “Eight” will attempt to create an entirely new content brand. “We’re not relying on branded talent or a well-known franchise,” Paramount Digital Entertainment president Thomas Lesinski said. “We’re trying to do online original content for the first time.”
The initiative follows in the footsteps of Paramount Digital Entertainment pushing off of existing properties with content like last year’s “Jackass 2.5,” a feature follow-up to the studio’s two hit movies showcasing the male-themed gonzo adventures.
Episodes of “Section Eight” will run between six and nine minutes, execs said, and at least one new episode will premiere each week during the run. A heavy social-networking component — viewers will be able to interact with cast as well as guess solutions to the series’ puzzles — also is planned.
Lesinski said that the episodes, which are fall in the PG-13 category, will be promoted on both MySpace and via a host of Viacom assets like MTV.
MySpace has been aggressive in the online originals space; it was the first platform to debut the Marshall Herskovitz-produced “quarterlife,” among others.
After a period of MySpace exclusivity, “Eight” will go out via other platforms, including iTunes, and also could eventually be collected as a single feature that will be distributed on DVD.
The companies are formally announcing the series Monday morning at the MIP confab in Cannes, with Endemol peddling foreign rights at the show.
About a half dozen projects are currently in development at Paramount Digital Entertainment, some of which derive from existing Par movies. But execs said they want the unit to undertake more than just online extensions of the studio’s efforts.
“I think it’s important that we start testing original content,” Lesinski said. “It allows you more flexibility, and there’s a lot more upside.“
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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