Movies
First Female to Flip On a ‘Ghostbusters’ Proton Pack?
Confirming news from last last year, THR says that Melissa McCarthy, pictured above, is in early talks to star in Ghostbusters, the female-focused reboot of the classic comedy, directed by The Heat and Bridesmaids helmer Paul Feig.
While she is in talks, there are several hurdles that need to be overcome before McCarthy can reteam with Feig for what would be their fourth movie together.
McCarthy has a very complicated schedule due to her CBS TV show, “Mike & Molly,” and an already pack movie slate, says the site. She is committed to shoot the Universal comedy Michelle Darnell, which is being directed by her husband and Tammy collaborator Ben Falcone.
But sources say that talks are underway that would see McCarthy, who became a movie star working with Feig in Bridesmaids, shoot Michelle Darnell in mid-March, allowing her then to shoot Ghostbusters in June.
The Ghostbusters reboot is said to be an origin story of new characters who take up ghostbusting and not a “hand-off” movie from the original 1984 film (though there is a small chance that surviving Busters Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson could make cameo appearances).
THR has also learned that Jillian Bell, below, from “Workaholics,” and “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Cecily Strong are due to meet with with Feig regarding the movie…
Allegedly, the plan is to land “Game of Thrones” fav Peter Dinklage for the villain role. He would play the ghost of a murderer (sort of like Wes Craven’s Shocker, actually) who resurrects a ghost army based on historical characters.
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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