Movies
Universal’s ‘Ouija’ Once Again Points To “Yes”
Super brief news as Universal’s Ouija once again points to “Yes”.
Ouija is reaching out from the beyond, as Universal has assigned the Hasbro project to Platinum Dunes and Blumhouse after halting production and putting it into turnaround late last year, reports Variety.
A contributing factor to the change of heart? Well, for starters the budget has been slashed from $100 Million to $5 Million. Talk about aggressive, and smart, cost cutting. While big budget films are occasionally warranted (and a lot of fun) it’s nice to see that we may be entering an era in which we see some of the artistic freedom associated with lowers costs make a comeback.
Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will produce through Platinum Dunes, with Jason Blum producing through Blumhouse and Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir producing for Hasbro.
The terrible McG was at one time attached, hopefully that has changed. Based on the board game, this was originally conceived as a big budget family adventure film in the tone of The Mummy, set in multiple locations around the world. Action-adventure horror story in which a group of twenty-somethings violate all the mythic “don’ts” of the Ouija board and unleash a Pandora’s Box type of evil spirit bent on revenge. 
Movies
R-Rated ‘The X-Files: I Want to Believe’ Director’s Cut Gets New Title and Streaming Premiere Date
After a slight delay, Disney has finally announced a new streaming date for the R-Rated director’s cut of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. According to Gizmodo, it’ll also come with a new title.
The X-Files: I Want to Believe Vrach Frankenshteyn begins streaming on Hulu on August 14.
The new cut was first teased in an interview with director Chris Carter on the Fail Better With David Duchovny podcast from last year, where he teased a much scarier movie he intended.
“Now I have a chance to go back and make the scary movie that I always intended to make,” Carter explained last year. “It’s not just doing a Director’s Cut to do a Director’s Cut. It’s really kind of bringing to life something that for me was on the page and never got to the screen.“
The director’s cut of the film was initially set to arrive on Disney+ in June, but quietly disappeared from the schedule without a word. Polygon reported the delay was “due to some last-minute adjustments being made to the film.”
The release’s new “Vrach Frankenshteyn” title certainly suggests those adjustments have been made, likely referring to a Frankensteining of bonus footage.
In the film, Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) have been out of the FBI for several years, with Mulder living in isolation and Scully having become a doctor at a Catholic hospital, where she has formed a bond with a critically ill child patient.
When an FBI agent is mysteriously kidnapped, and a former Catholic priest who has been convicted of pedophilia claims to be experiencing psychic visions of the endangered agent, Scully is asked to bring Mulder back to the bureau to consult on the case because of his work with psychics.
The brand new R-rated cut will “faithfully restore the filmmaker’s original vision.”
Look for it on Hulu next month.