Movies
‘Rec’ Directors Return for Not One, But TWO Sequels!!!
Two of the best films I’ve seen this past decade were Filmax’s verite zombie/possession flicks Rec and Rec 2 (in theaters this July). While the Spanish brain children behind the pic, Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero, have openly said they won’t return to direct, it’s hard to ignore such big international success as the duo will now split directing responsibilities for two new films! Read on for the skinny.
Major Spanish studio Filmax will produce two new [REC] films in the next couple of years called [REC] Genesis and [REC] Apocalypse from the same directors as the first two [REC] films.
[REC] directors Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero will split directing responsibilities for the two films. Plaza will direct the first film Genesis, which much like the Batman and Star Trek franchises will return to the origin of the original infection that caused humans to turn into zombies.
Paco Plaza and Luis Alejandro Berdejo (The New Daughter) will co-write Genesis with Balaguero actively involved in the development of the project. The film is expected to be delivered in the autumn of 2011.
Apocalypse will be directed by Balaguero and will end the [REC] saga with the pandemic spreading to unknown proportions. Plaza will assist on the project, which is expected to be delivered in the autumn of 2012.
“We were overwhelmed by the audience’s reaction to [REC]. It was precisely this which inspired us to keep going with [REC]2. Again, the great support we have received from audiences and Filmax motivates us to investigate the [REC] idea even further,” say Plaza and Balagueró.
Cast, budgets and shooting details are yet to be confirmed for either project.
“We are really excited about the prospect of two new and completely revolutionary [REC] films,” says Julio Fernández, president of Filmax.
The first two [REC] films proved hugely popular in Spain with the first taking $12m back in 2007 and the second $8m last year, and both sold widely abroad.
The two new [REC] films will be presented at the Cannes market by Filmax.
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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