Movies
Sony Pictures Locks Down ‘Dance Of The Dead’ Team For ‘Lockdown At Franklin High’
First of all, if you’ve never seen Dance Of the Dead that’s a situation you should remedy quickly. Director Gregg Bishop and Screenwriter Joe Ballarini fashioned a great, fun gory and touching John Hughes influenced yarn out of a meager budget. I recommend it highly.
Not they’re back with Lockdown At Franklin High, “about a straight edge teen girl and her rebellious, socially outcast brother as they try to escape from their prison-like high school which has been locked down and plunged into anarchy and pandemonium due to the attacks of a ravenous, supernatural monster. The inspiration is real high school lockdowns and tragedies and the intention is to use that for a dark and visceral roller coaster of intense fear and emotion.”
Platinum Dunes’ Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form are also in the mix. Per Deadline, “Sony Pictures ended the week by closing preemptive deal for Lockdown At Franklin High, a spec script by ‘Dance of the Dead’ team of Greg Bishop and Joe Ballarini. The bidding was competitive and Sony’s plan is to move quickly to get a director and put the film into production. Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form also in conversations to produce.”
It’s interesting that they’re looking for a director, since Bishop directed Dance with Ballarini getting sole writing credit. I assumed he would be directing this project as well. Looks like they collaborated on the script and are looking for someone else to helm. We’ll see how this plays out. Either way? It’s good news.
Movies
‘The Exorcism’ Trailer – Russell Crowe Gets Possessed in Meta Horror Movie from Producer Kevin Williamson
Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist) is starring in a brand new meta possession horror movie titled The Exorcism, and Vertical has unleashed the official trailer this afternoon.
Vertical has picked up the North American rights to The Exorcism, which they’ll be bringing to theaters on June 7. Shudder is also on board to bring the film home later this year.
Joshua John Miller, who wrote 2015’s The Final Girls and also starred in films including Near Dark and And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, directed The Exorcism.
Joshua John Miller also wrote the script with M.A. Fortin (The Final Girls). This one is personal for Miller, as his late father was the star of the best possession movie ever made.
Miller said in a statement this week, “The origins of the film stem from my childhood spent watching my father, Jason Miller, playing the doomed Father Karras flinging himself out a window at the climax of The Exorcist. If that wasn’t haunting enough on its own, my dad never shied away from telling me stories of just how “cursed” the movie was: the mysterious fires that plagued the production, the strange deaths, the lifelong injuries— the list went on and on. The lore of any “cursed film” has captivated me ever since.”
“With The Exorcism, we wanted to update the possession movie formula (“Heroic man rescues woman from forces she’s too weak and simple to battle herself!”) for a world where no one group owns goodness and decency over another,” he adds. “We were gifted with an extraordinary cast and creative team to tell a story about how we’re all vulnerable to darkness, to perpetuating it, if we fail to face our demons. The devil may retaliate, but what other choice do we have?”
The film had previously been announced under the title The Georgetown Project.
“The Exorcism follows Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.”
Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water), Chloe Bailey (Praise This), Adam Goldberg (The Equalizer) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) also star.
Of particular note, Kevin Williamson (Scream, Sick) produced The Exorcism.
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