Movies
‘Saw’ Director Conjures Up ‘Paranormal Activity 2’ for Historic Battle!
This is hilarious, awesome and epic all in one. Kevin Greutert, the director of Saw VI, will be getting behind the camera for Paramount Pictures’ Paranormal Activity 2. This is where it gets awesome; Paramount has slated the film for release on October 22 putting it toe-to-toe with Lionsgate’s Saw VII. The funny part is that Saw was literally pounded by Paranormal this past October, so to see the director of the sixth film jump franchises has me giggling a little bit – especially since Lionsgate decided to go back with David Hackl (who directed the lousy Saw V) instead of Greutert (who I personally thought did a remarkable job on VI) for the latest Jigsaw game in 3-D. Confused? Good. That’ll teach you. Read on for the full announcement.
From the Heat Vision Blog on THR:
“Something’s moving in the “Paranormal Activity 2” house.
Paramount has hired screenwriter Michael R. Perry and director Kevin Greutert to create the sequel to 2009’s biggest surprise hit, “Paranormal Activity,” which scared up $151 million in worldwide grosses in the fall on a shoestring $15,000 budget and a shrewd, opt-in Web marketing campaign.
Significantly, Paramount will unleash it in theaters on the pre-Halloween weekend of October 22, which sets it against that date’s reigning champion in previous years, the next installment in Lionsgate’s “Saw” series (this year would be “VII”). In a symbolic twist, Greutert made his directorial debut on the sixth “Saw” film, which grossed just $31 million worldwide, with observers thinking that the franchise may be bleeding dry.
Jason Blum and Oren Peli, who masterminded the first “Activity,” are producing the second iteration. Steven Schneider will serve as executive producer.
“These guys get it, and the fans won’t be disappointed,” said Peli of Perry and Greutert’s participation.
Unsurprisingly, the filmmakers are keeping the story line — as well as the film’s actual title — hidden in the attic.“
A contemporary reimagining of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story Herbert West: Reanimator is on the way, and Deadline has unveiled the first look at the new Herbert West and the pathologist drawn to his orbit.
The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallis.
Michael Grossman (“The Originals”, “Pretty Little Liars”) directs.
The new images introduce star Joseph Morgan (“Vampire Diaries“), who plays “brilliant surgeon and scientist Herbert West, who is obsessed with creating a serum to reanimate the dead.” Katie Cassidy (Speed Demon) stars opposite as the pathologist with a troubled past who joins his efforts.
Together, they prove that conquering death may be the ultimate sin against life itself.
The film’s official synopsis: “As a child, Herbert West watches his father Peter reanimate his dead mother Judith in a secret basement lab — only for Judith to mortally wound Peter and nearly kill Herbert before Peter shoots her. The trauma leaves its mark on Herbert, but so does one final image: his mother’s finger, twitching after death. Thirty years later, Herbert West is a brilliant, secretive surgeon still chasing his father’s obsession.
“Pathologist Kate Locke arrives in town and is drawn into his orbit — first through a spark at a hospital fundraiser, then through his secret lab, where he reveals a serum capable of reanimating severed tissue. Kate, hiding a dark past of her own, is thrilled rather than horrified, and moves into West’s mansion to work alongside him. Their early experiments on a cadaver succeed only briefly. West concludes that dead tissue is the problem — they need something fresher.”
Supporting cast includes Scott Aiello, Ira J Amyx, Randall Newsome, Emma Reinagal, James D. Bryce, Kathryn A Bentley, Jack Lancaster, Amy Holland Pennell, John Pierson, Mindy Shaw, Eric Dean White, Tristan Wilder Hallet, Adrienne Lamping, Aaron Crippen, and Drew Patterson.
Makeup artist Jeff Lewis (“Star Trek: Voyager,” “Star Trek: Enterprise”) and cousin Roger Lewis are heading the production via their newly established Woodlake Entertainment.
Lovecraft’s short story, first serialized in Home Brew magazine in 1922, is the first among his works to mention the fictional Miskatonic University. It was most famously adapted into a 1985 horror movie from Stuart Gordon, starring Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West.
Herbert West: Reanimator is set in Alton, Illinois, where production is now underway.
Herbert West: Reanimator. Photo credit: Matt Lief Anderson
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