Movies
It’s Okay That Eli Roth is Using CGI For ‘Meg’
There’s an over emphasis on how much CGI sucks as it’s how it’s used that complicates the result. It’s rare that I cringe at the idea of CGI being used, mostly because I reserve judgement for the final film. I prefer for there to be a mix of practical and CG effects to help the mind believe what’s on screen, but sometimes CGI is so good I can’t even tell. We’re not experts, so let’s not try and pretend to be…
With that said, Eli Roth is going to use CGI to create his massive shark in Warner Bros. adaptation of Steve Alten’s novel “Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror.”
“The thing is with Meg, the size of the creature, it sort of becomes impractical to do it practically, but I’ve seen how they’ve done the whale in In the Heart of the Sea,” Roth told Collider. “They showed me footage and they’re like, ‘Before you judge CG, take a look at this,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ The whale in In the Heart of the Sea looks so good. I was like, ‘All right, we’re good.’ I wouldn’t do the movie unless I believed the technology was there to do it, and the great thing is with Warner Bros. and the team that we’re doing [it] with, we’re gonna have the resources to do it right.”
In the book, the story revolves around two men who band together to neutralize an ancient shark that’s threatening the California coast. The Megaladon, considered one of the largest and most powerful predators in history, can reach a maximum length of 60 feet.
Belle Avery and Colin Wilson are producing Meg from a screenplay by Dean Georgaris.
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.
Adam Simon (The Haunting in Connecticut, “Salem”) and Tim Metcalfe (The Haunting in Connecticut, Kalifornia) penned the script. The original screenplay and storyline come from Jade Sandberg Wallace.
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
You must be logged in to post a comment.