Movies
‘Silent Hill’ Sequel OFFICIAL! Shooting Next Year!
Some huge movies before I shut down for the evening, Columbia Pictures has finally officially announced a sequel to Silent Hill, which will begin production after the completion of Sony Screen Gems’ Resident Evil: Afterlife. Screenwriter Roger Avary and Samuel Hadida of Davis Films are returning. Read on for the skinny. No director has been named yet.
Roger Avary and Samuel Hadida of Davis Films are climbing back up “Silent Hill.”
The screenwriter and producer have signed on for a sequel to their 2006 video game adaptation.
The original, based on the Konami game, centered on a woman who travels to a desolate town to seek help for her ailing daughter only to find supernatural occurrences taking place there.
Davis Films aims to shoot the movie next year after “Resident Evil 4,” which it’s now prepping.
TriStar released the original “Silent Hill,” which earned $47 million domestically; the label has not confirmed involvement on the follow-up.
Avary, best known for his work on Quentin Tarantino scripts such as “Pulp Fiction,” also is penning video game adaptation “Return to Castle Wolfenstein” for Davis Films.
The deal is one of several projects for Hadida’s company. The French-based banner has come to Toronto with two projects — Michael Bassett’s “Solomon Kane” and the Terry Gilliam-helmed “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.”
“Kane,” based on Robert Howard’s early 20th-century pulp novels that blend fantasy and history, screened in the Cannes market in the spring, and Davis Films is hoping for new attention and offers at TIFF. The pic is set to play Wednesday in the Midnight Madness section.
“The cut is basically the same, but a lot of distributors wanted to see it with an audience, which could really affect how a film plays,” Hadida said.
Despite the lesser-known cast — James Purefoy, starring in the title role, is perhaps the best-known name — the filmmakers believe “Kane” could sell on the brand value of the Howard creation.
“The property is the star,” said Paul Berrow, who is producing with Hadida.
“Parnassus” will be released by Sony Pictures Classics following an involved postproduction process that included a stop at Cannes in May.
In addition to the “Resident Evil” franchise, Hadida counts movies such as “Good Night, and Good Luck” and “The Rules of Attraction” among his credits.
Hollywood is serious about landing the next Backrooms. Hot on the heels of a Siren Head feature announcement, Deadline reports that a new movie based on viral YouTube series The Mandela Catalogue is in development.
It also has some Hollywood heavy hitters behind it.
Amblin Entertainment’s Steven Spielberg, United Artists’ Scott Stuber (Frankenstein), and Amazon MGM Studios are set to produce, emerging victorious after a highly competitive 11-studio bidding war.
Launched in 2021, the YouTube series is set in the fictional Mandela County, Wisconsin which is “invaded by shape-shifting, nearly immortal creatures called Alternates. The Alternates are led by a false depiction of the Archangel Gabriel and their aim is to wipe out the human race by psychologically torturing them to the point of suicide. The Alternates are known for manipulating AV media, TVs, computers and GPS systems.”
The movie will be directed by the series’ creator, Alex Kister, based on a screenplay he adapted with Tyler Clifton.
The Mandela Catalogue has racked up an impressive 100 million views across its official episodes alone, solidifying it as one of the largest original analog horror franchises on YouTube.
Spielberg and Holly Bario are producing for Amblin Entertainment alongside Aaron B. Koontz for Paper Street Pictures and Stuber and Nick Nesbitt for United Artists. Kister and Clifton are also producing. Annie McCreery will oversee the project for United Artists. Maria Fortese will oversee for Amblin.
Get acquainted with The Mangela Catalogue below while we wait to learn more.