Movies
Production Officially Underway on ‘The Tall Man’
We broke the new exclusively here on Bloody Disgusting that Teach Grant (“Fringe,” “The Dead Zone,” Hard Ride to Hell ), William B. Davis (The X-Files, The Thaw, “Fear Itself”), Samantha Ferris (Grace, “Supernatural”), Jodelle Ferland (Eclipse, Silent Hill, Case 39) and Stephen McHattie (Pontypool) would all be joining Jessica Beil in The Tall Man, a long time dream project for Martyrs director Pascal Laugier. This afternoon we received an official start of production announcement that details the plot and everything else for the film that follows Biel as a woman who must grapple with and track the mysterious figure of The Tall Man who has kidnapped her child.
Principal photography has begun on THE TALL MAN, a mystery thriller written and directed by acclaimed French director Pascal Laugier (Martyrs, Saint Ange) and starring Jessica Biel (The A-Team, Valentine’s Day) in a leading role. A suspenseful thriller in the vein of M. Night Shyamalan’s earlier films, THE TALL MAN marks Laugier’s English language debut.
Produced by SND, Radar Films’ Clement Miserez (Faces in the Crowd) and Minds Eye Entertainment’s Kevin DeWalt (Faces in the Crowd), the film will shoot for eight weeks in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. The final wrap is set for November 18th
“We are thrilled to be producers on this project and we are really looking forward to bringing this mystery to audiences worldwide,” said SND CEO Thierry Desmichelle. “Jessica Biel is a very gifted and versatile actor. Coupled with Pascal’s gripping script and innovative filmmaking, it’s the perfect recipe for quite a compelling story.”
Set in the town of Cold Rock, THE TALL MAN is a story of the haunting secrets that hide behind closed doors. With children gone missing over the years leaving neither a clue nor a witness, superstitious locals talk of `The Tall Man,’ a legendary, mysterious dark figure who takes children away never to be seen again. When a woman’s son is taken, the chase is on and with it the quest for answers: who is the Tall Man and what happens to the children?
Stephen McHattie, William B. Davis, Samantha Ferris and Jodelle Ferland, round up the cast. SND is handling international sales and will release the film in France.
Conceived as a `woman in jeopardy’ movie – an outdoor `Panic Room,’ by Laugier, THE TALL MAN is clothed in the myths of bogeymen and monsters born of the folklore common to all cultures. “It’s a story with a strong female character, a character you feel connected to,” said Laugier.
“We really believe in the story and all the talent involved in this project. Jessica Biel’s sensitivity and diverse performances are a perfect fit for the role,” adds Miserez.
The official Resident Evil trailer has arrived this morning, bringing a closer look at the nonstop survival horror ride filled with references to Capcom’s classic game series and T-virus gore.
Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil opens in theaters and IMAX September 18 from Sony.
The trailer below introduces Austin Abrams (Weapons) as Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in a non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos.
Cregger directs from a script he co-wrote with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapters 3 & 4).
The trailer keeps its focus on the central human character arriving amidst an outbreak, revealing very little in the way of its mutated threats. The film’s director previously teased not to expect a zombie-heavy film.
Cregger explains, “This movie doesn’t utilize zombies that much. It’s much more focused on the weird creature stuff than the zombies. There’s really only two scenes, maybe three, where there’s proper zombie stuff going on. And two of those three are in the trailer.”
“But other than that… I wouldn’t call this like a zombie movie,” Cregger previews. “I just feel like, you have this opportunity for the T-Virus to do all these really fascinating things to the human body, and to the world around you, and so to just limit it to zombies feels like a squandered opportunity. So I tried to really vary it up.”
According to the film’s listing on the AMC Theatres website, the runtime for Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil is 1 hour, 35 minutes, making it one of the franchise’s shortest movies.
And we are expecting a very intense, fast-paced 95 minutes from the film.
Watch the new trailer below, spot the signature Resident Evil shotgun shells and more.