Movies
Twisted Revs Up ‘Texas Cainsaw’ in 3D
Twisted Pictures is becoming the house of multiple sharp objects as the makers of the Saw series are closing a deal to take over the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, putting the villains Leatherface and Jigsaw under one roof. The details are slim, but Leatherface could be returning in 3D. More soon. Read on for the rest of the story and tell us what you think below.
Sources said the producer/financier is in talks to partner in the films with Lionsgate, which has distributed all the pics in the highly profitable “Saw” series, including the Oct. 23 release of “Saw VI.”
The plan is to contemporize the storyline for a 3D film that would be scripted by Stephen Susco (“The Grudge”). Carl Mazzocone, Mark Burg and Oren Koules will be the producers.
The series had been launched at New Line with a remake and a prequel produced by Platinum Dunes, the genre company run by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form.
Deals had been made on a per-pic basis with “Chainsaw” rights-holders Bob Kuhn and Kim Henkel, the latter of whom wrote the original 1974 pic with director Tobe Hooper. Talks fell apart with Platinum Dunes. The Twisted Pictures deal is for multiple films, sources said.
The franchise is bloody big business: The 2003 remake cost $9.5 million and grossed $110 million worldwide. The 2006 prequel didn’t do as well but still grossed $55 million on a $13 million budget.
The Platinum Dunes team, which just made a first-look deal at Paramount, still is aligned with a pair of iconic psycho murderers: After reintroducing Jason Voorhees in 2009’s “Friday the 13th,” they are relaunching Freddy Krueger (played by Jackie Earle Haley) in a new “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
Fangoria Studios and Panick Studios are turning horror comic Black Diamond into a film, and Variety reports that Ernest Dickerson (Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight) will direct.
Black Diamond comic book creator Brendan Columbus will write the screenplay.
Black Diamond follows Owen and Victoria Welch on a family ski trip that spirals into a nightmare. When their son is abducted by a mysterious cult, the couple is pushed to the brink and faced with a soul-crushing ultimatum: sacrifice another child or lose their own forever.
The comic book series from Panick Entertainment is described as a “chilling folk horror thriller blending Hitchcockian psychological tension with the dread of The Wicker Man.”
“Black Diamond was my attempt to put everything I love about thrillers on the page,” Columbus tells Variety. “I want to make sure it feels like you physically can’t leave the theater or else you’ll miss the next twist or turn. With his masterful cinematic eye and his great story sense, Ernest is going to scare the hell out of everyone with this one.”
“Black Diamond immediately grabbed me because its horror is rooted in impossible human choices,” says Dickerson. “It taps into parental fear, morality, isolation, and survival in a way that is so unsettling and emotionally real. That combination will make for a very suspenseful and exciting cinematic experience.”
Ernest Dickerson is directing and executive producing the feature film. Black Diamond will notably be Ernest Dickerson’s first feature film as director since Double Play in 2017, though he has in more recent years been directing for an impressive string of television shows including “The Man in the High Castle,” “The Purge,” “Raised by Wolves,” “Bosch,” and “DMZ.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.