Movies
Fox Doesn’t Like David Cronenberg’s New ‘Fly’ Script…
While many critics scream “f*ck remake”, they always forget of classic reboots such as David Cronenberg’s The Fly, which was based on Kurt Neumann’s 1958 film of the same name starring the great Vincent Price. And while Fox has originally planned to re-remake the film, in 2009 Cronenberg was eventually attached to develop a sequel to his disgusting 1986 masterpiece. It’s been deafly silent since then.
Just the other week Cronenberg revealed that he has recently completed the screenplay for his new take, unfortunately the studio didn’t bite. The helmer tells Indiewire that Fox wasn’t so keen on his new take, explaining, “I wrote a script and at the moment Fox is not wanting to do the project.”
Sure, that statement doesn’t really tell us much, and it appears the site didn’t bother to ask a follow up questions, but it’s clearly not a good sign. It’s quite unfortunate too considering the studio has finally started to support filmmakers and delivered not one, but two high quality blockbusters this summer (Rise of the Planet of the Apes and X-Men: First Class). 
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.