Check out your first look at Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Evans in Sacrifice above.

The cast for the upcoming Netflix movie Sacrifice also includes Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Ambika Mod, Sam Richardson, Charli XCX, Yung Lean, and John Malkovich.

Here’s the official synopsis: “A film star attempting a comeback is abducted with two others from an environmental gala by a radical group who believes their sacrifice will save humanity.”

There are a couple alternate plot rundowns for the film over on IMDb, one of which mentions supernatural powers and another that makes it clear Anya Taylor-Joy is playing a cult leader.

Here’s one alternate plot synopsis…

“At an elite fundraising gala, celebrities and socialites find themselves in danger when armed activists storm the venue in pursuit of a legendary relic that could unlock supernatural powers.”

And here’s a more detailed breakdown of the plot for Sacrifice…

“During a star-studded charity gala brimming with celebrities, billionaires and empty speeches, a movie star in the midst of an existential crisis (Chris Evans) is taken hostage by a radical warrior (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her devoted followers.

“As the night descends into chaos, both an inward journey and an outward adventure ensue, where the line between performance and belief, salvation and sacrifice, begins to blur.”

For what it’s worth, IMDb lists the film as an “action-adventure-comedy,” so it might be one you don’t see too much coverage for here on Bloody Disgusting. But we’ll keep our eyes peeled.

The post ‘Sacrifice’ First Look – Anya Taylor-Joy Plays a Doomsday Cult Leader in Netflix Movie appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

This fictional account of the making of F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu remains one of the most incisive, thought-provoking, and hilarious vampire films ever made, all while somehow maintaining the creeping, undeniable dread of the film it is revering and, to some extent, satirizing. It is a film about filmmaking, the “war of art,” and perhaps most compelling, a film about reality and artifice. So, what could a twenty-five-year-old movie about the making of a one-hundred-year-old movie possibly have to tell us about life in the year of our Lord 2025? As it turns out, quite a bit.

Throughout the film, F.W. Murnau, brilliantly played by John Malkovich, insists that he is intent on capturing reality. The film opens with the end of shooting on a set built on a stage where Greta Shroeder (Catherine McCormack) gleefully and tenderly dangles a bauble in front of a kitten until Murnau calls, “end.” At that moment, her expression transitions to one of disdain for everything she feels she has been reduced to by being forced to participate in the burgeoning motion picture industry. In other words, everything is fake. The buildings are facades, the people are actors, and even the cat has been drugged to make it more docile. Murnau’s cry of “at last an end to this artifice!” as the company will be heading out onto location the next day implies that he intends to capture reality and reality only. The rest of the film, however, proves otherwise.

When they arrive in Czechoslovakia, Murnau insists to his producer Albin Grau (Udo Kier) that the inhabitants of the village do not need to act; they only need to be. But when one of these villagers walks into a shot to protest that the crosses on the walls of her inn have been removed, he shouts, “Albin, a native has wandered into my frame!” Grau then assures the woman that the crosses would be returned, but that they “overwhelmed the composition.” These are early indications that reality may not actually be foremost on Murnau’s mind. Everything is artifice, everything is manipulation. Except for the one thing he cannot control: Max Schreck.

The great conceit at the center of Shadow of the Vampire is “what if Murnau was so insistent on reality that he hired an actual vampire to play the role?” Willem Dafoe, in his Oscar-nominated role as Schreck, gives one of his most unhinged performances, which is saying something considering his filmography. It is a performance that leaves room for the audience to believe that Schreck could either really be a vampire or be such a committed method actor that he believes himself to be one. In reality, the idea of vampirism goes far beyond this character, serving as a metaphor that extends to the very nature of filmmaking itself. In the opening scene, Greta laments that the live audience of the theatrical experience gives her life “while this thing,” referring to the camera, “takes it from me.” So, the camera itself is a vampire, a technological wonder whose mechanisms slowly drain the life, humanity, and will away from those it ensnares while simultaneously giving them the illusion of eternal life.

The film implies that the filmmaker can be a kind of vampire as well, or at least a Renfield-like servant to its bloodsucking master. Murnau may have the illusion of control, but as Schreck notes, as the shoot descends into chaos, “This is hardly your picture any longer.” Then who does the picture belong to? Is it Schreck? Or is it perhaps the all-consuming act of filmmaking itself, enabled by the mechanical beast that Murnau wields?

By the end, Murnau has become so consumed by his vision that he allows Schreck to kill Grau, Shroeder, and his cinematographer, Fritz Arno Wagner (Cary Elwes), before the vampire himself is destroyed by the sun. Even as Schreck is strangling Grau, Murnau tells his star, “Frankly, Count, I find this composition unworkable,” and tells him to return to his original mark. He then asks the dead Albin Grau to return the prop stake to the bed beside Greta. His reasoning—“if it’s not in frame, it doesn’t exist.” Or perhaps we could put this in modern parlance, “Pic, or it didn’t happen.”

How like a vampire film our lives have become. Or at least the life we curate for others to see. How much of what we post on Instagram is real, and how much is just beyond the frame? Shadow of the Vampire came along before social media took over our online landscape. Within a few years, YouTube and MySpace would begin their journey to immortality, only to be taken over by Facebook and Twitter and the expansive, Hulkified, Googleized version of YouTube we now have. Our online selves can give us immortality, but at what cost? Like Schreck, do we even know who we are anymore?

In the film, Schreck cannot remember how he became a vampire. He can’t remember where he came from or who he was before. Now he is too old even to create more vampire companions. In one of the film’s many memorable sequences, Schreck discusses the novel Dracula with Grau and writer Henrik Galeen (Aden Gillett) and how it made him sad that Dracula had no servants. The two men puzzle at this point, noting that they believe Schreck has missed the point of Stoker’s book. But Schreck tells them that when Harker arrives at Castle Dracula, the Count would have been without servants for hundreds of years, but would have to put on the airs of humanity for his guest, despite not remembering what it was like to be human. “He has to feed him when he himself hasn’t eaten food in centuries. Can he even remember how to buy bread? How to select cheese and wine?” He notes that Dracula remembers the glories of his armies but not the simple acts of humanity, even the most basic personal interactions.

This all makes me wonder, are we giving ourselves over to a vampire? Are we allowing the technology of our day to suck us dry of our humanity? It’s always a challenge to navigate a new technology. It’s a constant theme throughout history. What was intended to draw humans together so often drives them apart. This has been true from the automobile and the telephone to the motion picture and television to the internet and the smartphone. None of these things is made with nefarious intent, but we as humans have a knack for twisting good things into new problems to grapple with.

Lately, these things seem to be coming at us with a rapidity that we as the human race are not equipped to deal with thoroughly before being overtaken by them. Forty years ago, it was home computers that rapidly spread to every aspect of life, then it was the internet, then social media, then smartphones, and now the sudden pervasiveness of Artificial Intelligence. Like the spinning mechanisms of Murnau’s camera in Shadow of the Vampire, these are simultaneously enticing, beneficial, and dangerous.

It has always been the case that we live in a world overwhelmed by vampires, be they human, technological, or some combination of both. The human spirit, however, is strikingly resilient. We have tamed our monsters before, and we surely will again. The question is how much damage will these vampires of our own making do before we are able to expose them to the sun? Perhaps I am too much of an optimist, but I believe that light can overcome darkness. The road is long, and the progress is slow, but I believe that the better angels of our nature will prevail. By naming our vampires and identifying them for what they are, we begin to see through them and break the Faustian bargains we have made with them.

This isn’t to say that we should just abandon our innovations, but if horror movies and genre cinema have taught us anything, from Frankenstein to The Terminator to Jurassic Park, to Shadow of the Vampire and beyond, it’s that we must be responsible for our innovations and not allow them to overtake us and destroy our humanity. All these stories ask the vital question: Just because we can, does it mean we should? The answers to that question can be complex. There will always be benefits, but there will also always be consequences.

Pandora’s Box is already open, and there’s no turning back, but there are ways to proceed forward. To do so intelligently, we must go beyond our knowledge to guide us and explore something that I fear has been lacking in much of our contemporary age—wisdom. What that will look like remains to be seen.

It is striking how every time I return to Shadow of the Vampire, which is fairly often, I find more depths to mine and insights to uncover. This article is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the discussion of this film. I have barely touched on its insights into the filmmaking process, the nature of silent filmmaking, life in the Weimar republic and the shadow of authoritarianism to come, its examinations of art as a “battle and struggle,” the nature of memory, the roots of method acting, pervasive drug use and addiction, and only barely mentioned the biting humor throughout the film. And these are just its themes and ideas. There is even more to say about the film’s craft in front of and behind the camera, from its superb cast of actors, its brilliant writing, and its excellent direction from E. Elias Merhige, a truly fascinating filmmaker.

I really don’t like to throw this word around, but I believe that Shadow of the Vampire is a masterpiece that will only continue to have relevance to our current obsessions, challenges, and triumphs.

The post If It’s Not in Frame It Doesn’t Exist: ‘Shadow of the Vampire’ at 25 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The satirical horror-thriller marks the feature debut of writer-director Mark Anthony Green.

Ayo Edebiri and John Malkovich star with Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, and Tony Hale.

A young writer (Edebri) is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star (Malkovich) who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review out of Sundance, “Opus is at its best when it’s a campy satire of pop culture, led by two powerhouse performances, but it utterly fails as a genre exercise.”

The post A24’s ‘Opus’ Is Now Available to Watch at Home appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

It features three tracks sung by John Malkovich as pop superstar Alfred Moretti, written and produced by Grammy winners Nile Rodgers (Beyoncé, Rihanna) and The-Dream (Beyoncé, Daft Punk).

The EP is also available on 7″ black vinyl for $20 from A24.

In Opus, a young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.

Malkovich stars alongside Ayo Edebiri, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, and Tony Hale.

The satirical horror-thriller marks the feature debut of writer-director Mark Anthony Green.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review out of Sundance, “Opus is at its best when it’s a campy satire of pop culture, led by two powerhouse performances, but it utterly fails as a genre exercise.”

The post Listen to John Malkovich’s ‘Opus’ EP Produced by Grammy Winners Nile Rodgers & The-Dream appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Listen to the Academy Award nominee’s mesmerizing pop vocals on “Dina, Simone,” the first single from the Opus soundtrack, below.

Available now on all streaming platforms, the track is written and produced by Grammy winners Nile Rodgers (Beyoncé, Rihanna) and The-Dream (Beyoncé, Daft Punk).

It will be released as part of Opus: The Moretti EP on March 14 — the same day the film opens in theaters from A24.

In Opus, a young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.

Malkovich stars as the sinister pop star alongside Ayo Edebiri, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami, Tatanka Means, and Tony Hale.

The satirical horror-thriller marks the feature debut of writer-director Mark Anthony Green.

Meagan Navarro wrote in her review out of Sundance, “Opus is at its best when it’s a campy satire of pop culture, led by two powerhouse performances, but it utterly fails as a genre exercise.”

The post Listen to John Malkovich’s Mesmerizing Pop Vocals in “Dina, Simone” from A24’s ‘Opus’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Ambitious and hardworking reporter Ariel Ecton (Edebiri) desperately wants to crack the next big story that will catapult her into the next stage of her career. It’s all she thinks about, even as her ego-centric boss, Stan (Murray Bartlett), accepts her ideas only to assign them to more tenured staff. Her big break comes in the form of a bizarre invitation from Alfred Moretti (Malkovich), a world-renowned pop star who vanished without a trace nearly 30 years ago.

Moretti has invited an eclectic group of prominent media types to be the first to listen to his new album, including Stan, popular TV show host Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis), infamous paparazzo Bianca Tyson (Melissa Chambers), Moretti’s enemy-turned-podcaster Bill Lotto (Mark Sivertsen), and influencer Emily Katz (Stephanie Suganami). As Moretti’s staff welcomes the guests, stripping all forms of communication before lavishing them with decadence, only Ariel harbors a healthy level of skepticism that things are insidiously amiss.

Like the guests, it’s easy to get sucked into the dazzling world Green has created. Opus is, if nothing else, sleek in style with intricate set pieces, a haunting score, and earworm original tunes by legendary producer Nile Rodgers and The-Dream. Then there’s Malkovich, turning in a commanding and occasionally restrained performance as the idiosyncratic pop legend presiding over the strange desert cult compound. The actor even sang three original songs for the film, including the obnoxiously catchy track “Dina Simone,” which captures the satirical tone. Green and Malkovich shroud Moretti with enough mystery to keep viewers on the hook, along with the effortlessly affable and smart Ariel as she desperately seeks to uncover what exactly is happening.

The initial character introductions indicate a raucous satire ahead, with Green taking aim at the vapidness of entertainment journalism. Yet the filmmaker gets too caught up in the details, drawing out Ariel’s investigation amidst increasingly bizarre encounters and reveals. It’s here where pacing becomes a glaring issue.

Outside of Ariel and Moretti, to a lesser extent, all of the characters are intentionally underwritten as archetypical caricatures, fodder for Moretti’s master plan. With a distinct lack of tension and very little in the way of menace or horror, Opus quickly becomes inert. It falls almost entirely on Edebiri to convey a sense of dread or danger at all. Not helping is that Opus also parallels more familiar cult horror tales like Midsommar or even last year’s Blink Twice.

By the time Opus finally kicks into high gear and delivers on the horror, it’s far too succinct and toothless to earn its methodical build-up. It’s the type of payoff that’ll leave most asking, “That’s it?” Instead of blending horror and satire, Opus toggles confusingly between the two. Green crafts a handsome feature with impressive details, set pieces, and Shirley Kurata’s stunning costuming. It’s also a feature that’ll leave you eager to buy the OST on vinyl. Ultimately, though, the social commentary is too shallow and underserved for a film that spends far too much time dedicated to it.

Opus is at its best when it’s a campy satire of pop culture, led by two powerhouse performances, but it utterly fails as a genre exercise.

Opus made its world premiere at Sundance and will release in theaters on March 14, 2025.

The post ‘Opus’ Review – Edebiri & Malkovich Dazzle in Celeb Satire That Forgets the Horror [Sundance] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A24 will release Opus in theaters on March 14, 2025. From writer-director Mark Anthony Green, the upcoming film will be A24’s first new horror movie to release here in 2025.

The film has been described as “flashy pop horror” as well a “tense, psychosocial game of cat and mouse.”

In A24′s Opus, “A young writer is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star who mysteriously disappeared 30 years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.”

Edebiri will play the “meek yet hungry journalist Ariel — her unique charm radiating alongside a distinct final-girl prescience. John Malkovich is effervescent and hypnotic as Moretti, a deified global phenomenon making a dramatically malevolent reintroduction.” What’s even more intriguing is that Sundance had described the film as having musical numbers. 

Amber Midthunder (Prey) and Juliette Lewis (“Yellowjackets”) also star, along with Murray Bartlett (“The White Lotus”), Stephanie Suganami (Power Book II: Ghost), Young Mazino (Beef), and Tatanka Means (Killers of the Flower Moon).

The post A24 Horror Movie ‘Opus’ Stars John Malkovich as a Popstar Cult Leader [Image] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

When the film opens, Tom has a reassuring final breakfast with his concerned mother (Cheri Oteri) before heading off to sophomore year. He’s excited about living in the KNA fraternity, reuniting with his loud and boisterous best friend Mitch (Cobra Kai’s Bo Mitchell), and maybe stepping into the shoes of frat president Todd (Salem’s Lot‘s Lewis Pullman).

Things almost immediately go awry when Mitch develops an antagonistic relationship with a pledge named Gettys O’Brien (Austin Abrams). The pair get off on the wrong foot and circumstances quickly escalate into full-on animosity, with Tom caught in the middle. He quickly begins to resent constantly having to defend Mitch as well as act as a mediator between him and Gettys at fraternity events.

With KNA under scrutiny for repeated violations involving off-campus retreats and hazing rituals, there’s no question that a party at Mitch’s palatial family estate is a bad idea. In this way The Line is like a slow-motion car wreck: the film works by introducing a minor conflict, then cranks up the tension and dread in anticipation of the blow up to come. It’s a matter of “when,” not “if.”

The inevitability of the central premise, as well as the unflattering portrayal of fraternities does lend The Line an air of familiarity. Berger and co-writer Alex Russek’s screenplay isn’t exactly breaking new ground with the revelation that groups of young (often wealthy, entitled, white) men + booze + drugs = trouble. The film is less interested in surprising our expectations than it is in confirming them: all of the abhorrent, terrible things one can imagine when we hear the word “frat” is, in fact, taking place.

In that capacity, The Line is a challenging, uncomfortable watch. Laden with profanity and featuring wall-to-wall sexist, homophobic and racist characters, the dialogue can be extremely confronting. The frat bros are the walking embodiment of toxic masculinity, but the examination of its damaging effects is exactly the point of the film, as evidenced by both the film’s dialogue and mise-en-scene.

At the start of The Line, Tom boasts to his mother that “relationships are everything” and characters routinely repeat statistics about the fraternity’s 100+ year history of churning out politicians and Fortune 500 CEOs (often with the American flag in the background).

This idea is immediately and repeatedly undercut, however. Their first night back, Tom and Mitch go to dinner with Mitch’s wealthy father, Beach (John Malkovich) and mother (Denise Richards). While she fusses over profanity at the table, Beach mocks both his son’s weight and the stupidity of a former KNA brother who is now incredibly successful.

The suggestion that a fraternity fails to provide the boys with a group of supportive friends and colleagues is evident throughout the film. Characters trash talk each other behind their backs, everyone jokes that Mitch’s admission was due solely to his father’s wealth and influence, and, in a disgusting throwaway moment, a potential pledge’s picture is boo’d and his admission denied for being “too dark.”

Additionally, both Mitch and Gettys are revealed to be petty and insecure, but the group is happy to continue antagonizing both of them with slurs and profanity. As the conflict escalates and events turns deadly in the final act, the group turns on each other while publicly protecting the legacy of KNA.

Wolff’s lead performance is outstanding; he confidently anchors the film in an understated fashion. Tom is an intriguing protagonist in that he’s caught in the middle of a maelstrom that he’s reluctant to engage with. The character is a follower in a community that thrives on blind obedience and willfully engages in harm in exchange for the promise of future benefits.

As the film progresses, Tom’s growing awareness of the hypocrisy of the cultural institution he’s bought into (to the tune of $6K!) trickles out in ebbs and flows, including in his burgeoning relationship with classmate Annabelle (Halle Bailey), the sole female character of note.

Tom’s KNA frat brothers repeatedly refer to Annabelle as a “Black lesbian” (principally because she has armpit hair and no tolerance for the “R” slur). In one of the film’s most telling and most subtle scenes, Tom talks Annabelle out of visiting the frat house. It’s clear that his actions are driven by two distinct, but complimentary realizations: he understands how poorly she would be treated, but he also doesn’t want to incur more teasing comments from the others.

Mitchell and Austin are also excellent as the two stubborn instigators. Their conflict is petty and juvenile, but watching it blossom from inciting incident and infect the rest of the frat is compelling.

Technically the film’s best sequence is the climactic sequence, which cinematographer Stefan Weinberger lights like a snuff film. The imagery of pledges caught in a spotlight that obscures the shadowy faces of the abusive sophomores is unsettling. Ditto the image of “successful” pledges with hoods over their heads, left sitting in pews of a make-shift church or walking single file towards a watery embarkment. Kudos, also, to Daniel Rossen’s use of ironic patriotic drumming in key sequences.

Ultimately The Line leverages its familiar narrative to tell an often difficult and upsetting story about the dangers of toxic masculinity and so-called fraternity. The profanity-laden dialogue and entitled characters will undoubtedly turn some viewers off, but The Line never pretends it has anything but disdain for its characters and the legacy chapter they’ve pledged obedience to.

The messaging is subtle as a sledgehammer…and that’s the point.

The Line comes to VOD outlets on October 25.

The post ‘The Line’ Is a Scathing Indictment of Frat Culture [Review] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Singer wrote the script and he’ll also be directing the horror movie.

Deadline notes, “He’s bringing his Luz team back together for Cuckoo including DP Paul Faltz, composer Simon Waskow and production designer Dario Mendez Acosta.”

Plot details, at this time, are under wraps. Stay tuned.

Jan Bluthardt, Zita Hanrot, and Proschat Madani will also star.

The post Sofia Boutella, John Malkovich and More Join NEON’s Horror Movie ‘Cuckoo’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

John Malkovich stars alongside Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

“The feature, directed by Jon Keyes, takes place after a viral pandemic decimates the world. It follows a survivalist that is forced to take on a group of heavily armed fanatics who believe that he is harboring the woman who is key to ending the virus and repopulating the world.”

Matthew Rogers wrote the script for the “action-thriller.”

No release date at this time. Stay tuned.

The post John Malkovich-Starring Pandemic Thriller ‘The Survivalist’ Acquired for US Release by Quiver Distribution appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman are producing the film via their Yale Productions banner alongside Jon Keeyes, who is also directing. The film is from an original script by Matthew Rogers and recently wrapped production in the Tri-State area.

The Survivalist takes place a year and a half after the fall of civilization from a virus outbreak. A former FBI agent, Ben (Rhys Meyers), is forced to protect a young woman (who is immune to the disease) from a dangerous gang hunting her, led by Aaron (Malkovich), a psychopath who believes he’s going to use her to save the world.

“We’re thrilled and honored to be working with screen legends John Malkovich and Jonathan Rhys Meyers on The Survivalist, an exhilarating, timely and action-packed feature film with stellar performances,” said Levine and Beckerman.

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The film is told from the point of view of Bundy’s former girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins), set during the multi-year period that Bundy hid his murder spree from her.

John Malkovich, Jim Parsons, Haley Joel Osment, James Hetfield, Grace Victoria Cox, Kaya Scodelario, Angela Sarafyan, Jeffrey Donovan, Terry Kinney and Dylan Baker also star.

Bundy was executed in 1989. Shortly before his execution, he confessed to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978.

Here are all of the hi-res images from the film that hits the streaming service next Friday, May 3rd.

The post New Images Show the ‘Extremely Wicked’ Side of Zac Efron’s Ted Bundy appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

A first clip has been released from the film which was recently acquired by Netflix for an awards season run. The film is told from the point of view of Bundy’s former girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins), set during the multi-year period that Bundy hid his murder spree from her.

John Malkovich, Jim Parsons, Haley Joel Osment, James Hetfield, Grace Victoria Cox, Kaya Scodelario, Angela Sarafyan, Jeffrey Donovan, Terry Kinney and Dylan Baker also star.

Bundy was executed in 1989. Shortly before his execution, he confessed to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978.

The original screenplay, written by Michael Werwie, won the Nicholl Fellowship first prize and was featured on the Black List.

The post ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ Clip: Ted Bundy Claims to Have Been Framed appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

We’re introduced at Miami’s Art Basel to an ensemble of a-holes: Josephina (Zawe Ashton) is a would-be art agent working under the imposing Rhodora (Rene Russo). Morf (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a powerful art critic, Jon Dondon (Tom Sturridge) is Rhodora’s protégé turned rival, and Gretchen (Toni Collette) is an art advisor for a wealthy client. They’re all equally terrible in their own special ways, and they come together when an elderly man dies in Josephina’s building, and she finds hundreds upon hundreds of astonishing paintings that he wanted destroyed after his death. Instead, Josephina and Rhodora start selling his work to immense acclaim and profit, with Morf, Gretchen and a half-dozen others all elevating their own careers through proximity to the late Ventryl Dease’s staggering work.

[Related] Read all of our Sundance reviews and coverage here!

Velvet Buzzsaw would have been a blast if it were only a sly send-up of the art world, but once Rhodora and company discover Dease’s dark history, and once his paintings start, well, literally killing people, it becomes a full-blown riot. This movie is so preposterous, so profoundly weird, just hilarious and merciless and black-hearted from beginning to end. It’s missing the weight of Nightcrawler, but that feels right, too, as does the fact that this downright silly movie is premiering at Sundance. In a movie where people mistake literal trash and actual corpses as art, it’s pretty fun that Gilroy’s passing off this trashy murder show as an art film.

But for all of its camp and absurdity, Velvet Buzzsaw is a terrific-looking film, with striking interiors and city vistas (and close-ups of hairless cats staring into koi ponds), and Dease’s art is genuinely arresting. Every single performance is hilarious and memorable, and aside from the above cast that includes the only three decent characters in the film: John Malkovich as a once-brilliant artist struggling to find his vision in his new sobriety, Daveed Diggs as a relentlessly vaping newcomer to the art scene, and Natalia Dyer as the unlucky assistant who keeps managing to get hired by people right before they’re brutally murdered by art.

Gilroy has a talent at telling surreal and occasionally even hallucinatory stories with absolute coherency. It won’t take long for you to buy into Velvet Buzzsaw’s nuttiness, and once you’re invested, you’ll have a hard time wanting to leave this dumb, bloody, bonkers world.

The post [Sundance Review] Dan Gilroy Goes Full Horror With ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Zac Efron (who also EPs the film) plays Ted Bundy, the serial killer best known for being handsome and charming instead of, you know, butchering dozens of women. And it’s impossible to deny that Efron is handsome and charming here, giving off a sort of sinister ease that reads as hokey at the beginning of the film before he really starts to live in the role. Lily Collins is a high point as Liz Kloepfer, the single mother who fell in love with Bundy long before his crimes came to light. As Bundy’s arrested, escapes, arrested again, escapes again and so on, Liz’s faith in the man who’s been so good to her and her daughter understandably frays.

The film is based on Liz’s book The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy, and yet the film is weirdly lacking in her perspective. Here’s this woman who feels culpable in both the crimes and the arrest of a man that she can’t decide if she believes is innocent, and that’s a fascinating dilemma that is never examined with any real intimacy. A large chunk of Extremely Wicked only portrays Liz in something close to montage mode, clips of her languishing on the couch drinking vodka while Ted cuts up across the country. It’s that distance from the woman whose story inspired the film that keeps it from becoming something more substantial.

While Bundy’s an undeniably engaging subject, he’s one that we’ve seen many times before, and yet another glamorous portrait of the brutal murderer feels – here’s that word again – irresponsible, whereas a film that focused a more significant portion of its screentime on the woman left suffering in his wake would both be more enlightening and show a bit more integrity.

[Related] Read all of our Sundance reviews and coverage here!

Still, once we move past Ted’s seemingly jolly escapades across the United States and land in the Florida trial that ended his death spree and ultimately his life, Extremely Wicked offers a little more substance, thanks in large part to John Malkovich‘s outstanding performance as Judge Edward D. Cowart, a folksy, “bless your heart” sort of Southern gentleman who nevertheless sees right through the Ted Bundy circus. It’s Cowart who gives the final word on how we, as the audience, are supposed to feel about Bundy, in a long closing statement (that includes that mouthful of a title) ending with the summation of Bundy as a “waste of humanity.”

But it might be too late after an hour and a half of Bundy capering about town, flashing those Efron pearly whites and collecting a bevy of pretty groupies. Sure, in the last five minutes Extremely Wicked delivers a condemnation of a man who confessed to killing upwards of thirty women and who’s suspected of killing many, many more, but that’s after a whole film’s worth of Efron’s Bundy playing the charismatic but persecuted hero of the story.

Extremely Wicked, Shocking Evil and Vile is a pretty good time, but should it be?

The post [Sundance Review] ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ Entertains But Feels Irresponsible appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The series will premiere on February 1. Check out the trailer below.

In a cat and mouse chase across the length of Britain, will Poirot prevail before the murderer stages his next crime?

The three-part limited series was written by Sarah Phelps and directed by Alex Gabassi.

Rupert Grint, Andrew Buchan, Anya Chalotra, Eamon Farren, Jack Farthing, Shirley Henderson, Bronwyn James, Tara Fitzgerald, Freya Mavor and Michael Shaeffer also star.

The post [Trailer] John Malkovich Hunts a Serial Killer in Amazon Series “The ABC Murders” appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Directed by Susanne Bier and penned by Eric Heisserer (The Thing, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Final Destination 5, Lights Out, Arrival), we now have the full image gallery for Bird Box (read our review), now in limited theaters before streaming on Netflix next Friday.

Sandra Bullock stars in this post-apocalyptic thriller in which unknown entities show people their worst fears and send them into a suicidal rage.

“When a mysterious force decimates the world’s population, only one thing is certain: if you see it, you take your life. Facing the unknown, Malorie finds love, hope and a new beginning only for it to unravel. Now she must flee with her two children down a treacherous river to the one place left that may offer sanctuary. But to survive, they’ll have to undertake the perilous two-day journey blindfolded.”

Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Tom Hollander, Colson Baker, and BD Wong stars with Sarah Paulson, and John Malkovich.

The post ‘Bird Box’ Image Gallery Blindfolds the Cast appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Netflix just surprised us all with the trailer and announcement of a post-apocalyptic thriller opening this Christmas.

Directed by Susanne Bier and penned by Eric Heisserer (The Thing, A Nightmare On Elm Street, Final Destination 5, Lights Out, Arrival), Bird Box open in theaters and on the streaming December 21st.

Sandra Bullock stars in this post-apocalyptic thriller in which unknown entities show people their worst fears and send them into a suicidal rage.

“When a mysterious force decimates the world’s population, only one thing is certain: if you see it, you take your life. Facing the unknown, Malorie finds love, hope and a new beginning only for it to unravel. Now she must flee with her two children down a treacherous river to the one place left that may offer sanctuary. But to survive, they’ll have to undertake the perilous two-day journey blindfolded.”

Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, Rosa Salazar, Danielle Macdonald, Lil Rel Howery, Tom Hollander, Colson Baker, and BD Wong stars with Sarah Paulson, and John Malkovich.

The post ‘Bird Box’: Netflix Shows Sandra Bullock Her Worst Fears [Trailer] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The movie is currently shooting in Covington, Kentucky, with Joe Berlinger (Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory) is in the director’s seat.

“Vile is telling the story of the infamous serial killer, focusing on how a man’s routine traffic stop spirals out of control when he’s brought up on criminal charges, a process that reveals his vast crimes.”

Jim Parsons will portray Larry Simpson, the lead prosecutor of the 1979 Miami trial that finally convicted Bundy.

John Malkovich, Lily Collins, Jeffrey Donovan, and Heathers’ Grace Victoria Cox also star.

Producing are Michael Costigan, Michael Simkin, Ara Keshishian and Nicolas Chartier.

#BugLife #behindthescenes

A post shared by Zac Efron (@zacefron) on Jan 30, 2018 at 7:22am PST

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Sarafyan will play Joanna, a close friend of Bundy’s longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer (Lily Collins). Joanna acts as a support system for Elizabeth and is the reason she starts to finally question Bundy’s intentions.

Aboard too is John Malkovich, pictured below, playing Edward Cowart, the judge who presided over the serial killer’s 1979 trial that resulted in a death sentence.

The script is from Michael Werwie; it won the Nicholl Fellowship first prize and was featured on the Black List.

Voltage Pictures is financing and the company’s Ara Keshishian and Nicolas Chartier are producing with Michael Costigan of COTA Entertainment and Michael Simkin from Efron’s Ninjas Runnin Wild Productions. Jonathan Deckter and Jason Barrett as executive producers.

The post “Westworld” Star Joins Ted Bundy Pic ‘Extremely Wicked’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Deadline reports today that Oscar nominee John Malkovich is the latest to join the cast of the Bundy film, which also stars Lily Collins as Bundy’s former girlfriend.

Malkovich will play Judge Edward Cowart, who presided over the serial killer’s 1979 trial, sentencing him to death.

“The film is told from the point of view of Elizabeth Kloepfer during the multi-year period that Bundy hid his murder spree from his live-in lover, played by Collins.”

Bundy was executed in 1989. Shortly before his execution, he confessed to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978.

The original screenplay, written by Michael Werwie, won the Nicholl Fellowship first prize and was featured on the Black List.

The post John Malkovich Joins Cast of Zac Efron-Starring Ted Bundy Film ‘Extremely Wicked’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The movie is as much Cujo as it is Reservoir Dogs, this exclusive image promises.

In theaters and on VOD platforms December 8th from Saban Films and Lionsgate:

“After a heist gone tragically wrong, three career criminals find themselves trapped in a warehouse with the law closing in. But, inside the warehouse, a more dangerous threat awaits—as the fugitives are plunged into a furious battle for their lives.”

Solet’s previous works include Grace, Dark Summer, and an episode of Tales of Halloween.

The post Paul Solet’s ‘Bullet Head’ Mixes ‘Cujo’ With ‘Reservoir Dogs’ [Exclusive] appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Similar to Don’t Breathe, a group of criminals find themselves in over their heads during a heist in this one, ending up trapped in a warehouse with *something* hunting them down. That something is a hulking, terrifying dog, giving Solet’s latest a certain, I don’t know how else to say this, Cujo meets Reservoir Dogs vibe. Sign. Us. Up.

Check out the trailer below!

In the film…

“After pulling off the heist of a lifetime, three career criminals find themselves trapped in a warehouse with the law closing in. But, inside the warehouse, a more dangerous threat awaits as the fugitives are plunged into a furious battle for their lives.”

Adrien Brody, John Malkovich, Antonio Banderas and Rory Culkin star.

Look for it on December 8 from Saban Films.

The post [Trailer] ‘Cujo’ Meets ‘Reservoir Dogs’ in Paul Solet’s ‘Bullet Head’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Glen Schofield, Co-Founder and Studio head at Sledgehammer Games, states:

This is not only the four new multiplayer maps, but the continuation of the popular Exo Zombies saga. We’re huge fans of Bruce Campbell, and to be able to add him to the already great roster of performers in Exo Zombies takes this to a new level.

The DLC will be available on June 2nd.

The post Bruce Campbell Joins Upcoming Advanced Warfare’s ‘Supremacy’ DLC Cast appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“A funny new twist on a classic love story, Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

DVD Extra reports that the Blu-ray and DVD extras are set to include: Boy Meets, er, Doesn’t Eat Girl featurette, R&J featurette, A Little Less Dead featurette, Extreme Zombie Make-Over! featurette, A Wreck in Progress featurette, Bustin’ Caps featurette, Beware of The Boneys featurette, Whimsical Sweetness: Teresa Palmer’s Warm Bodies Home Movies featurette, Zombie Acting Tips with Rob Corddry featurette, Audio Commentary with Director Jonathon Levine and Actors Nicholas Hoult and Teresa Palmer, Deleted Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary with Screenwriter/Director Jonathan Levine, Shrug and Groan Gag Reel.

The post Lionsgate’s Awesome ‘Warm Bodies’ Dated For Home Video appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The film’s projection could fluctuate through Super Bowl Sunday, however. Summit is estimating the film will have a 68% drop from Saturday to Sunday — comparable to how similarly teen-targeted Chronicle was effected by the game this time last year.

Bodies received little assistance from its fellow wide openers: Warner Bros.’ Sylvester Stallone R-rated actioner Bullet to the Head failed to gain any yardage with a dismal $4.5 million debut, while Lionsgate’s modest opening of old-timer comedy Stand Up Guys, at just 659 locations, estimated a mere $1.5 million through Sunday.

The weekend’s top holdover, Paramount’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters failed to reach double digits. Witch Hunters grossed an estimated $9.2 million, for a Stateside cume of $34.5 million.

The post Summit’s ‘Warm Bodies’ Shambles Into Top Of Box Office appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

“‘Warm Bodies’ is beautifully shot, features relatable characters, and a carries a romance that the viewer may actually connect with. There’s a lot to like about Warm Bodies, even if you’re into old school horror. Still, the hardcore horror nuts may be turned off by the lack of violence and gore typically shrouding the zombie subgenre…”

Click here for the full review! And make sure to write your own reviews as well!

The post [BD Review] Brad Finds A Lot To Like In ‘Warm Bodies’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

The film follows Nicholas Hoult as a zombie named “R” (because he can’t remember his name) who navigates the viewer through the film via his constant yammering. He falls for a human survivor, Julie (Teresa Palmer), who learns that zombies aren’t just black-hearted creatures of the night. Together they discover something that could change the world, which leads them on a dangerous journey.

Warm Bodies makes wonderful social commentary about how we’ve become a society obsessed with technology, so much so that we’ve put up giant walls, and thus need to learn how to connect again. It comes off a bit heavy-handed at times, as well as being a tad too on the nose and requiring the viewer to have a high level of suspension of disbelief.

And while the studio continually promised it’s not a “Twilight” zombie movie, without a shadow of doubt, it is. But, unlike the Twilight films, Warm Bodies is beautifully shot, features relatable characters, and a carries a romance that the viewer may actually connect with. There’s a lot to like about Warm Bodies, even if you’re into old school horror.

Still, the hardcore horror nuts may be turned off by the lack of violence and gore typically shrouding the zombie subgenre. There’s nothing but cutaways and implied violence, but the film isn’t about that – it’s about us, looking in a mirror and making changes to our cold-hearted lives… recognizing that we’re all zombies in the modern world. There’s something special about a film that actually has something to say, which is why Warm Bodies gets a soft pass. But don’t expect to fall love with the film as there’s still an inherent lack of intensity and excitement. Ultimately, Warm Bodies is a bold and unique new look at zombies in a way that’s more than just a faceless horde of undead creatures eating brains.

The post [BD Review] Emo-Hipster ‘Warm Bodies’ Is Unique, Cute and Sorta Fun appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

I recently had a chance to catch up with Levine after seeing the film (which I really liked). We talked about his take on the zombie allegory, shooting an NC-17 level of gore for a PG-13 film and using horror as a forum to revisit the John Hughes template of emotions.

The film “is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star. Head inside for the interview!

When you’re approaching something like this that melds so many tones, what’s your main though line?

It’s the same thing as 50/50 except there’s more shit that could go wrong in this one because in 50/50 I could rely on Seth Rogen to tell a funny joke or whatever. Not only is the new one a scary combination of tones, there’s a lot of it where it’s just two guys grunting at each other. So I focussed on character and, not the romance per se, but the central concept that Nick’s character is a guy like any guy. A shy guy.

For me, the allegory of being a zombie [in this film] is like you’re trapped in your own body. So I compared it to being a teenager, or young person or whatever, who is trapped in their own body and shy around a girl. That’s something I can totally identify with. If I ever had the opportunity to be around a girl who looked like Theresa Palmer I wouldn’t be able to say a thing.

I focussed on those simple things, because there’s so much to worry about in a movie like this. From building the world to balancing the tones. If you just focus on character and character motivation and the things that attracted you to it in the first place, that’s a good guidepost.

And you’re having to calibrate how the zombies look in this kind of movie. The brain eating has to be tricky for this rating!

All of the violence, I went hard with it. I shot a lot of coverage and I knew I would have to cover it up. There is a version of this movie that’s a Hard R, if not NC-17. I didn’t want to self-censor during shooting. I knew that if we had the material and cut it out it would feel like we had the material, you’d feel the impact. I think we all needed to feel like we were doing the balls out version of it in a way, and you still have some core of that onscreen. I hope so.

It’s also the biggest thing you’ve shot, particularly the climax.

It’s interesting. There’s a bunch of different sequences and you’re not doing it all at once. You kind of do a little bit in the first week and a little bit in the 5th week. You always have the opportunity with CG to change things or fix things, so if you fuck it up you have a chance to fix it. One of the things that interested me about this movie was the opportunity to broaden the scope of what I do.

But in some ways it’s still the same. You’re relying a lot on your collaborators and the precepts of how you execute something cinematically don’t really change. So the only thing you have to really be careful about is showing up on set and seeing 100 extras and seeing the amount of work you have to do for the day and not to be completely terrified. You have to manage your own stress levels. But if you manage to make something like Mandy Lane, where we stretched every dollar and had to think about every shot, that prepared me to do this. Because I had greater resources here. I had more time to cover scenes and more time to fuck up covering scenes. I felt OK with it.

I really dug the music in the film. It has a lot of great John Hughes moments.

That’s funny, I always viewed this movie as a revisionist John Hughes thing. To the point where Psychedelic Furs was in it up until a few weeks before we locked. In reading the book, the music thing was something I really gravitated towards. I’ve always gravitated towards being able to really use music in my movies. With The Wackness it was a very hip-hop driven thing and with Mandy Lane it was very indie. I like the ability to juxtapose sound and image and here it’s telling a story about something that’s lost.

It was a very meticulous process picking it, and it wasn’t always easy. But I did gravitate towards a lot of 80’s music. Because the power ballads are these operatic, almost comical, expressions of deep feeling. Hopefully we turn people on to stuff they don’t know about. Obviously they know Dylan and Bruce, but some of the other stuff they may not.

So you’re guiding Nicholas Hoult through this –

He guided me a lot! Go ahead.

It’s just interesting because there are a lot of different stages to his Zombie, and you couldn’t film in sequence.

No, that was just something where I used the 50/50 trick. On 50/50 we worked out with the AD team that we would have different stages of cancer. And Joe [Gordon-Levitt] and I worked on it, we spoke to a lot of people who were going through, or had gone through cancer. So we decided “Stage 1 is you just had chemo yesterday and you’re nauseous. Stage 2 is this, Stage 3 is this” and so on. So we just had a shorthand at the beginning of every scene and I would just be like you’re at “stage whatever” and we would both know what we were talking about. And with Nick we sort of did the same thing.

And, I’m almost embarrassed to talk about this, we also did this thing where it was just “Less Zombie/More Zombie.” “Eh, do a little less Zombie in this take.” And we just had different versions of those takes that we could use. And Nick was the one who was on top of that. He really nailed it.

When we spoke onset you said you probably wouldn’t be up for a sequel –

Did I say that?

Yeah, if they made another one. Did you reconsider?

Dude, I don’t know [laughs]… onset is probably the worst time to ask me something like that because I probably didn’t even want to show up the next day. Isaac [Marion] is writing a sequel, I love these actors and I had such a good time making the movie.

My general feeling is let’s wait and see if anyone goes and sees the fucking movie. But it’s like a Jewish superstitious “everything is going to go horribly wrong” feeling that allows me to not even think about that stuff. But to hang out with all of these guys again would be amazing.

Do you have anything else coming up?

I have something I’m writing and there’s a script Will Reiser [50/50] wrote and there’s a few things in various stages of development. But I just did two movies really quick back to back, so what I’m really going to do is hang out with my girlfriend and my dog for a while. And then hopefully I’ll pick something to do in June.

And hope that 35MM still exists then.

Dude, I know. We shot this on 35MM and I just have too… I can’t not do it. I know Tarantino is like, “I’m only going to shoot on 35.” But I don’t think I have the pull to do that! Hopefully if enough people see this movie! But I can’t imaging not shooting film. I should start stockpiling it.

The post [Interview] Director Jonathan Levine On Eating Brains And Melting Hearts In ‘Warm Bodies’ appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

You might expect the novel “Warm Bodies” to fit easily into the YA fiction mold. It doesn’t. It’s a lyrical, funny, disgusting and humane first person account of a Zombie falling in love with a member of the living. It’s a conceit that could have easily proven disastrous, but Marion pulls it off with a remarkably deft touch and the book is very much something I would recommend. I’m also excited to see the “Warm Bodies” universe expand. Yesterday Marion released a prequel novella called “The New Hunger” (which you can get at his website) and he’s planning on penning a sequel before moving on to other literary pastures.

I recently sat down with Marion to discuss his novel, his feelings towards Jonathan Levine’s adaptation and which facets of the Zombie allegory mean the most to him.

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton star in the film Warm Bodies, which hits theaters on Friday. Head inside for the interview.

I really like this book. It feels like a great allegory for an inability to communicate.

Yeah, there’s a lot of different allegories in it. There are some central themes, but the subject is pretty ripe for things to explore. But communicating in general, and being engaged with being alive. Being a zombie with no identity or purpose is sort of an expression of what it would be like to be the most apathetic, disconnected person in real life. A lack of understanding people, an inability to communicate, he’s got all of that to deal with.

The book has a lyrical quality to it, there’s a lot of beauty in it but there’s also a lot of brain eating. Did you start on a different path and have to keep recalibrating?

It’s based on a short story that had a similar tone. Just a guy describing what it’s like to be undead. And that sort of had this balance of comedy and philosophical commentary. But as far as the balance between romance and brain eating, it was a tricky path to walk. But I don’t think horror and romance are mutually exclusive. I think there’s something horrible about romance and vice versa. But it was tricky to maintain the emotions I wanted to be felt at any given moment.

How trepidatious were you about a movie being made out of it?

There were a lot of feelings. Moreso at the very beginning when I had no idea what it was going to be. It could have been a disaster or it could have been completely unrecognizable from the book. It could have fizzled out. There were a lot of anxieties.

But as it got further along, those anxieties started to get knocked off one by one. I was a fan of The Wackness before I even knew they were approaching him for the job. And he wrote the script for that as well, so I knew it was in good hands. Bad dialogue can destroy it for me, so when he came onboard it allayed a lot of those fears. After that I just watched it all come together.

It was his script and it was his movie. I read two drafts of the script and kind of gave some notes on it, but it wasn’t really my place to have a sweeping influence on where it went. I just had little observations here and there.

There’s quite a bit of “Romeo and Juliet” in the material. Even the initials match.

I didn’t have that in mind when I first started planning it, but after I figured out the story and started to write it I noticed that arc was there. The archetypal star-crossed romance was going on. So I went back in and tweaked some things to flesh out that reference a little more. But it’s more of a winking inside joke to the reader, it’s not 100% “Romeo and Juliet” with Zombies. It’s a subtle joke that runs through it.

In regard to the Zombie genre in general, were there any films that influenced your approach at all?

I wouldn’t say that there was any particular one. It’s more about how much the mythology has made its way into the popular culture and where some of these tropes come from. The eating brains thing only started with Return Of The Living Dead but people think it’s been there all along. I didn’t want to pinpoint or reference any one specific thing so I just culled it all together. It’s kind of like how R talks about all of the possible ways the apocalypse might have happened. But I didn’t want it to be one of those stories, I wanted to use the genre as a springboard for its own story.

What else do you have coming up?

I’m just finishing up a prequel novella to “Warm Bodies”, which will come between that book and the sequel I’m working on. It’s not really going to be a series, there’s just one more book that will conclude everything. It’s going to be the end that was in my mind from the beginning, I’m going to conclude that arc.

Does Summit have the option on that?

Contractually? I don’t know if they do. I haven’t gotten that far, I’m just in the planning stages for the book. But that’s a good question! I’ll ask my lawyer.

The post [Interview] Author Isaac Marion On “Warm Bodies”, Its Upcoming Sequel, And Seeing His Book Translated To The Screen appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters this Friday, February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star. Head inside for the spots.

The post New TV Spots For ‘Warm Bodies’ Make You Feel So Alive appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star. Head inside for a ton of stuff.

The post An Army Of Clips And Posters Unleashed For ‘Warm Bodies’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star. Head inside for the spot!

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In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star. Head inside for the poster!

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RED 2 brings Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker and Helen Mirren together once again against a new set of foes in Europe. Adding to the action are Brian Cox, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Byung Hun Lee and Neal McDonough. RED 2 opens August 2nd, 2013.

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Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

Back in October of 2011 I visited the set in Montreal and really dug what I saw. I’ve been a fan of Levine’s work for some time, but have to admit that I was iffy on this particular concept. But between reading the book and seeing what the cast and crew were up to, I’m very optimistic that this movie will be a lot of fun. Plus, I got to be a zombie (along with several other journalists)!

On Friday I shared Part One of my set report – which you should really read first. After that, head inside now for Part Two!

JONATHAN LEVINE: PART TWO

In the middle of our interview, Levine shows us a scene from the film. It’s a rough assembly but it comes to life rather well. R has already eaten the brain of Julie’s boyfriend and she awakes on the abandoned commercial jet he calls home. Knick knacks and collectibles that vaguely remind him of his past life litter the place (either that or they’re trophies collected from lives he himself has ended). Frightened at first, she relaxes as R’s slackly emoted intentions become clear. He doesn’t want to eat her, he wants to be her friend. He delicately places a slab of vinyl on his beloved turntable and drops the needle in the groove. In the book, it’s Frank Sinatra. On set, it’s “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses and it fits the vibe pretty damn perfectly. Depending on how the rights issues shake out the song could be something else entirely by the time you see it. Either way from this scene alone it’s clear that while this film may be partially geared toward teens, it speaks in a remarkably more intelligent emotional and visual vernacular than the Twilight movies.

Levine flicks off the monitor and takes a few more questions.

Sucking somebody’s blood is sexy. Eating somebody’s brain is incredibly invasive. How does he, for the audience, bring that around? That here’s a guy who ate her boyfriend’s brain? “You know, it’s challenging. I think that makes it fun. And it’s a lot about the actors. For Nick we’re looking more at ‘Edward Scissorhands’ instead of ‘R-Patz’ or whatever. Hopefully he’s endearing enough that people will overlook the eating brains part. Everyone has some negative things that they bring to a relationship!”

Are there other zombie elements to differentiate him from somebody that might be severely brain-damaged? “When you see them going to hunt and going to eat people and stuff, they go in a pack. You don’t forget that he’s a zombie. And then hopefully in a scene like this you might forget for a second that he is. But yeah, when they’re all together, you get it. They do zombie sh*t.”

What about the whole apocalyptic aspect of it? Does he explain what happened or is it just kind taken for granted that this happened five or six years ago? “We know what happens. And we know we have the option to explain what happened because a lot of it is going to be told through found footage or things that are playing on monitors in flashbacks and stuff like that. I think we’re going to play with exactly how much we’re going to explain and how much we’re going to leave to the imagination once we have the big picture of the movie. We’re going to see how much it feels like people need that explanation. I think audiences these days like the explanation whereas before you could get away with nothing and it was almost more mysterious. I err on the side of explaining more, but we’ll see.”

Since this is a slightly bigger budget than ’50/50’ –

“Five times the budget.”

And certainly bigger than The Wackness or All The Boys Love Mandy Lane does that afford him time to work with his actors more closely? “It’s interesting, no. I actually have less time to work with the actors because there’s more going on. On ’50/50’, even though it was 8 million dollars, it was all acting intensive. So we would sit down and talk about it and really [get into it]. And with Nick and Theresa we had a lot of rehearsal time so we were able to talk about it, but on the day we just have to do it. We started with this airplane chunk of stuff which is the more intensive acting stuff so they could kind of track the arcs of their characters. So that really helps kind of ground us in what they’re doing, since we shoot everything out of order [it helps them] track their characters. And beyond that, it’s really about just kind of doing it. They know what they’re doing. Ideally for me it’s like they know what they’re doing, and then we just go do it. And if things change on set it’s less about performance and more about the mechanics of something not working or stuff like that.”

How is it working with special effects on this film? “The biggest thing with this job is you gotta pick the right people. I really liked the effects in ‘Black Swan’ and a lot of the Aronofsky movies so we picked this guy Dan Schrecker, who’s our visual effects supervisor who is doing a wonderful job. And he’s teaching me, I don’t really know much about it. But it’s really about having the right personnel. It [also] hasn’t happened yet. All I see is guys in green suits running around. And you know, at the end of the day I’ll be able to watch it and control it but… what David Gordon Green told me is that you just have to be like, “it’s not good enough. Do it more, do it better. It’s not good enough.” That was really the advice.”

The stadium interior is covered in elaborate graffiti. What’s the purpose behind that and why are the characters here at this point? “The graffiti is something Martin, our production designer, and I really liked. It’s kind of something we saw in ‘Children Of Men’ that we really liked which is the world, in spite of the fact that everything’s going to sh*t, people are still doing the things they would do in an anarchic society and a society where things just fall apart. So that’s what the graffiti’s about. There’s homages to Bansky, there’s some homages to Shepherd Fairey. As far as where we are, this city is amazing because it has a defunct stadium and a totally empty airport. So we’re able to go into these places that used to be teeming with life and have them be completely empty and able to do kind of interesting things with them. So that’s part of why we came to this city and part of why we set this scene here. As far as this scene goes [on the particular day we were there] it’s kind of in the beginning of the third act when things are really ramping up and it’s zombies and humans fighting each other, zombies fighting these creatures called ‘Boneys’ and this is sort of where everything hits the fan. And yesterday we were shooting on the field which was amazing.”

How close is it to the book? “It’s pretty faithful. In the 3rd act we changed some things. In the book it’s all told from his perspective. And we had to kind of split the point of view a little bit in the 3rd act in order to tell the whole story. As the tension ramped up we wanted to be in the adventure movie mode and less of the existential movie mode. So that’s why we had to kind of splinter the point of view a little bit and do more stuff like that. And we also had to change things to accommodate our budget and accommodate the city we’re in and stuff like that.”

Talking about the different movie modes, this is a romantic movie. There’s comedy. There’s obviously some action happening. The balance of those tones, is that something being done on set or is that saved for the editing room? “This is another thing I sort of learned on ’50/50’. You always give yourself options. Even in the first scene we were doing, we had Corddry and it’s kind of a serious scene but once we had it the serious way I asked him to throw something in at the end. And he’s so funny that he can just light up the whole scene. And once he did that, that was the funny take. So that was a little too funny. Then by the fourth and fifth take we had a good combination of the serious and the funny. So I will have the option in the editing room to do any number of those things. Within reason, you play on set. To do a serious scene completely funny would be silly, you know what I mean? But you still give yourself little variances.”

Does Nicholas become more human as the story evolves? “Yes.”

Does that affect his makeup and walk? Do we start seeing the evolution of man, so to speak? “Yeah.”

John Malkovich is in this movie, playing General Grigio (father to Theresa Palmer’s ‘Julie’). Was he intimidating? “Yeah, I was intimidated by Malkovich. I was intimidated by Malkovich for like a couple of days and then I wasn’t. He’s awesome. He’s so cool. He was so wonderful to work with. He has a lot of scenes with Theresa and he really kind of took her under his wing and was very nurturing to her. I just find him to be so incredibly funny. I would like to do a comedy with him too. He’s such a funny, nice, unbelievable guy. I met him for a drink and he’s halfway through a 2,000 page book about Casanova because he’s doing I think an opera about Casanova. He’s picking swatches for his fashion line that is made out of Italy. It’s like insane. Now he’s doing an opera and then he’s directing a version of ‘Dangerous Liasons’ in French, he speaks fluent French to everyone on the crew. It’s unbelievable. Yeah, so he’s cool. Even though he’s not intimidating, it’s like that voice that’s really kind of intimidating, you know. He’s wonderful, we all loved him. ”

Does this movie have a potential for something beyond what we see in this version? “I think you could take the story that way, yeah. It’s not really something I worry about. I think there are further stories that could exist with these characters. I think Summit probably feels the same way.”

NICHOLAS HOULT

After our chat with Levine we head back to our press room where we greet Nicholas Hoult, who is naturally in zombie mode as well. It’s odd to think how the cherubic kid from About A Boy has transformed into the tall, thin and angular adult from A Single Man and X Men: First Class. He looks much the same as he did in those films, only dead. And with a hoody.

In person Hoult is relaxed and eloquent. It seems odd to apply “erudite” as an adjective describing someone in their very early 20‘s, but it fits the bill. Perched on a folding chair a few inches above his decomposing interrogators, he speaks softly about the challenges of playing his character. “What happens to him at the beginning of the story is he can’t communicate with anyone, he’s lost the power of speech, he’s trapped. His life’s quite dull and worn down, that feeling of dragging yourself through life. We had a zombie school, funnily enough. Not doing too much, I suppose, is important.”
 
The frames of reference for this movie are Romeo and Juliet and Edward Scissorhands, but it also seems like Pinocchio wanting to be a real boy. “Yes. The thing I really liked about the script is it’s about someone trying to retain his humanity. Through killing Julie’s boyfriend and eating his brains he falls for her and then regains that through being with her. That’s the great thing about Theresa: She’s such a lively, bubbly person anyway and it’s that spark she brings to the character.”
 
What’s eating brains like? “Eating brains is fun. It’s kind of like a cold, wet sponge they made the brains out of. The idea that Jonathan came up with is that because these brains are memories it’s kind of like being alive again, it’s kind of like a drug to the zombies. There was one day where there was a scene where I crack open Dave Franco’s head to eat his brains. We used a dummy, and I actually pulled some of the dummy’s hair out and it was on the brains so I ate a load of fake brains and the dummy’s hair which wasn’t the most pleasant experience.”
 
In a vampire story the romance is more obvious, there’s something erotic about biting someone’s neck. Eating brains is less erotic… “You haven’t seen how I eat brains.”

 
After the audience has seen you eat someone’s brains how do you keep them on your side? “You can hear the voice-over of my character, which is very eloquent.  It’s partly the way Jonathan is shooting it as well. You can’t see some of the more violent, gory stuff. You see it from his point of view because it’s something he has to do. The fact that it’s shot beautifully makes it less about killing someone’s boyfriend, which is never a good start. The tricky aspect of it is tracking the “getting better” aspect of the story. Me and Jonathan tracked the key points when he would develop and become more human. The speech was something we worked on, because people have difficulty understanding me anyway, just the way that I talk, so making it more zombie-like and turning that groan into words was difficult. There’s a lot to think about, but that’s what excited me about the script, that it was unconventional.”
 
Is there a backstory to the character prior to becoming a zombie? “No, that’s the whole thing, he’s forgotten who he is. He calls himself “R” because he can’t remember the rest of the letters that make up his name… I’ve never really been on a set before where the director told me to tone it down. It’s always been “pump it up.” It makes a nice change. I trust Jonathan from the first time I met him and saw how he adapted the screenplay.”
  
Are there any zombie films that inform this performance? “’Return of the Living Dead’ was the first one where zombies spoke, “Send more cops.” We had a spoof of that one day where I picked up the radio and said, “Send more brains.” The more recent ones like ‘28 Days Later’ and ‘Evil Dead.’ Picking up movement from those films but not completely copying. When zombies first started running they were serious sprinters… and [being attractive as a zombie] is tricky. I know you asked Rob earlier if zombies get boners. In the short story that was first written there’s a line that said, “My penis fell off two weeks ago.” That’s kind of how I’ve been playing it. Went method on that.”

THERESA PALMER

Next up is Theresa Palmer, who plays Julie in the film. She’s the only actor we’ve spoken to the entire day who isn’t dressed up as a zombie, so it’s a bit awkward to be dressed as one in front of her. Sure, she’s got a bit of blood wiped across her cheek, but it isn’t quite the same.

One of the film’s primary goals for her character is to create a female lead that isn’t as co-dependent as someone like “Bella” from Twilight. And, by the way Palmer carries herself, you can tell she’s up to the task.

How does the relationship between your character and Nicholas’s character begin, him being a zombie and you, clearly, being not a zombie?” Well, as you can imagine, I’m very wary of him. For the last few years since the apocalypse, all we’ve known is that zombies try and attack humans and eat us. So it’s very much a strange dynamic between them. I’m absolutely terrified and petrified of him at the start, and then he starts to show this super-sweet and endearing behavior. He has feelings and he listens to Frank Sinatra and he collects little intricate pieces and he has a heart. She can’t quite believe it; she doesn’t really know what she’s seeing. But she realizes that they’ve been wrong about these corpses this whole time. They’re not just these dead people without feelings and hopes and dreams. They don’t want to be dead. They want to be just like us… It’s really sweet; you see their relationship develop. He sort of has her held captive, I guess you could say, on this airplane where he lives with all these really cool little things that he’s collected and their friendship blossoms.”

Does she know that he ate her boyfriend’s brain? “Not at this point. Later on in the film she discovers this.”

You say your character knows how to take care of herself, she’s kind of badass. So, when she gets taken by R, does she try to fight back or keep finding ways to escape? “She does, yeah. There are some funny scenes where she starts to plot this idea to get him out of the plane. She pretends that she’s hungry and she wants him to leave. Then as soon as he walks out you see her get up and sprint to the window to make sure he’s gone and then she just legs it and she’s out of there. But, sure enough, she’s in this area where there are just hundreds of zombies who just start attacking her and, again, he’s forced to save her life. I think she realizes she’s kind of powerless. There’s not much she can do. It’s funny though, I think, after the first few days she realizes, ‘This is my situation and I’m going to make the best of it.’ When she lets down her guard like that, that’s when the friendship and ultimate relationship starts to blossom. ”

EPILOGUE

After all of our interviews are over there’s still work to be done. There’s several shots we appear in that take place before and after the one that allowed for our “Jazz Hands” incident and not all the bases are covered. There’s even talk that if we don’t finish on time some of us will have to stay an extra day for the sake of continuity.

In our scene, we stand behind M as the undead army he presents to R and Julie. Assembled under a glass dome in the stadium concourse, imaginary Boneys rattle above us. R and Julie approach tentatively as M informs them that we’re “ready for a fight.” Julie responds, “I can see that.”

We’re told to react against the crashing of the Boneys above as we part like the Red Sea allowing our protagonists to escape right before the big melee. After just a couple of tries and the last “Cut!” (of our shooting day at least) is called. As it turns out us journalists are wrapped with time to spare.

After washing our makeup off we head back to wardrobe (sadly we’re not allowed to keep our zombie duds), grab our clothes and change in the wooden makeshift stalls that we undressed in earlier.

Only moments after we look vaguely normal again, Jonathan Levine comes zipping up the concourse in his golf cart to say goodbye and thank us for our time. He doesn’t have to do this and while it would seem manipulative for most other directors to squeeze in one last pow wow like this, from him it comes across as 100% legitimate. There’s no damage control happening, there’s no damage. I leave the stadium that night feeling enthusiastic and optimistic about a project that was barely on my radar before the trip.

A potentially disastrous concept, the book Warm Bodies transcends almost every pitfall its premise throws at it. And from what I’ve seen of Levine at the helm of the movie, I can’t help but think that this special little story is in really good hands.

The post [Special Feature] Becoming A Zombie On The Set Of ‘Warm Bodies’… PART TWO! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star. Head inside for the clips!

The post New Clips From ‘Warm Bodies’ Shuffle In Ahead Of Some Behind-The-Scenes Footage! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star.

The post An Even Larger Hi-res Image Gallery For ‘Warm Bodies’ Comes Shambling In appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

Back in October of 2011 I visited the set in Montreal and really dug what I saw. I’ve been a fan of Levine’s work for some time, but have to admit that I was iffy on this particular concept. But between reading the book and seeing what the cast and crew were up to, I’m very optimistic that this movie will be a lot of fun. Plus, I got to be a zombie (along with several other journalists)!

Head inside for Part One of my set report (if you’ve already read it, here’s Part Two)…

Someone asks, “In a vampire story the romance is more obvious, there’s something erotic about biting someone’s neck. Eating brains is less erotic…”
 
Nicholas Hoult smiles, “You haven’t seen how I eat brains.”

“Cut!”

Directors, of course, say this all the time. After every take of every scene. Nothing unusual. What is unusual is hearing it and knowing that it was you who screwed up.

To be fair, it wasn’t just me who played the scene wrong. Several of my fellow journalists are guilty as well, not to mention most of the army of extras behind us. But we should take it easy on ourselves. After all, we’re zombies. We’re supposed to be slack and slouching, but in this case we’re preparing to fend off a horde of “Boneys” (extra mean and extra dead zombies to be added later in post-production) and we’re not used to this whole business of crouching down to be ready for a fight.

Rob Corddry, who plays ‘M’ in the film, turns around and cracks up at the sight of us. It’s all good though, because we’re being directed by the relaxed and capable Jonathan Levine (50/50, The Wackness, All The Boys Love Mandy Lane). Earlier in the day we’d spent over half an hour with him going over the genesis of the film and his infectiously funny and genuine energy had already seeped in, so we’re in good hands.

Levine approaches his AD, the fellow in charge of corralling us undead, and tentatively reenacts what there was too much of in the last take – and it looks not unlike a slow-motion, vampy crouching ‘jazz hands’. The AD lets us know that we’re free to play it more “realistic” in the next take, and by the third time the camera finishes rolling we’ve gotten close enough to what they need.

But the day’s not over yet (nor has it just begun). Our time in the semi-defunct Montreal stadium will be one long 11 hour blur of makeup, “acting” and talking to the real talent behind Warm Bodies . Based on the surprisingly emotionally engaging and lyrical book by Isaac Marion, the film is understandably being positioned by Summit as the next Twilight. But with the talent involved (and the superior source material), it has the potential to be a lot more.

Nicholas Hoult plays ‘R’, a zombie who falls in love with Theresa Palmer’s ‘Julie’ after consuming the brain of her (very recently deceased) boyfriend ‘Perry’ [Dave Franco]. Corddry plays ‘M’, R’s sidekick and simultaneous “best friend and worst enemy.” The premise sounds a bit ridiculous, no? I thought so too. But after checking out the book and seeing Levine and his actors in action I’m confident that this tonally tricky piece of material could actually emerge as a fun and poignant spin on the zombie genre.

Why Levine? After the critical success of 50/50 why would he be attracted to this almost teen-centric journey inside the mind of the undead? “Summit had the book and I’d wanted to do a movie with them for a while. They were fans of ‘The Wackness’, this was before I did ’50/50’. And so I read the book and I just fell in love with the world and the ideas of it and the characters. It’s not something I ever really imagined myself doing but it was very specific to these characters and specific to this world that there was an opportunity to create something unique that I don’t think you get to do much in movies these days on this scale.”

Or to hear producer Bruna Papandrea tell it, “I love the way Jonathan grounds his humor, which is a super important element. The fact that he’s a brilliant writer is a huge plus, so obviously when he came in and pitched his take, it was kind of a no-brainer.”

The morning started with us being shuttled in a van from our hotel to the stadium. From there we were guided into the hands of our makeup artists and through three separate processes – makeup, hair and dirt. I actually found the whole thing rather pleasant. I’d heard horror stories about spending hours upon hours under piles of latex, but here we weren’t doing any prosthetic work. So what could have been an epically miserable experience was instead a quick and efficient 90 minutes or so in the makeup chair (and being pelted on the dirt mat).

From there we are loaded onto golf carts and herded down to set. Jonathan Levine is about an 1/8th of a mile down the concourse directing Nicholas Hoult and Theresa Palmer through a small, quiet moment that leads up to the bigger scene we’re doing later in the day. We’re settled in sort of a secondary makeshift video village and, before I can really get a bead on what’s happening on the monitors, a small twenty-something makeup girl sits in front of me and starts re-touching my makeup. Apparently there has been a slight communication issue with some of the new makeup artists brought on set to handle all of the extra zombies and I have way too much blood oozing from my nose. Zombies don’t bleed so this needs to be fixed.

ROB CORDDRY

After watching Levine work for a bit we are guided into our makeshift press room for the day – a small ticketing booth right off the stadium’s interior concourse. It is here that we are greeted by a zombified Rob Corddry for the first time, looking vaguely normal in slacks and a sports coat but most definitely dead. Even though they’re a month deep into shooting he seems to be in high spirits.

He enters remarking, “It smells like marketing in here. Clever marketing.”

It is indeed an unusual situation. A corpse being interviewed by a group of corpses. It looks and feels weird, to say the least. But we all proceed as if it’s business as usual. What makes it especially unusual for me is that my temporary personal makeup artist has followed me into the interview. Many of the journalists on the trip will be right in front of the camera and it seems as though my veins lack camera-ready nuance. If you’ve never been a part of an undead roundtable while having makeup applied, well… it’s bizarre.

So what’s his character’s trajectory in the story? “I play ‘M’ and like most best friends in movies, he is the guy that is there to at first to be sort of the foil to the main character. To support him and yet also be his worst enemy. To remind him that there is a ticking clock and we have to get to the 3rd act. And generally act as the opposite to the main character. The only difference is, in this movie, I mainly do that mostly with grunts.”

The whole concept that Zombies have best friends and personal relationships, we’ve never explored that before. “Yeah! The way I wrapped my head around that was I guess because ‘R’ and I, ‘R’ is like the most advanced zombie, are sort of coming out of it. And I’m sort of in the next wave, that we must have some kind of feeling for that kind of thing instinctively. But also in the book, my character is a sex fiend. He tries to have sex with women in a bathroom and like just bumps up against them naked. You’re definitely going to want to put that in your [piece]. Summit’s gonna love that. It’s not in the movie. So they do, they don’t remember, but they have some kind of gut instinct for what it’s like to be human. Ultimately it’s frustrating for them. They don’t really remember what it is, but they do follow these patterns. For instance, I don’t know if we’re going to do this but I suggested to Jonathan that when we first meet my character, he’s just standing and staring at the airport bar. Because he just knows that this is somehow very significant to him at some point in time. So he just sits there and stares and tries to figure it out. We haven’t shot that scene yet, Jonathan goes ‘That’s a great idea. It’s probably about a $25,000 idea’. Because we have to build the bar. So we’ll see exactly how much he liked it.”

What’s the physicality of ‘M’? Is he shambling? Is he running? Is he limber? Is he falling to pieces? “It’s interesting because you, and you guys will be faced with this later today, you don’t want to be the George Romero Zombie with their arms out and they can’t bend their knees. But also don’t want to be the ’28 Days Later’ rage virus zombies because they’re just like wild animals. It’s sort of somewhere in between. It’s really like, they don’t feel pain, right? They don’t feel really anything. So just imagine what your body would feel like if you couldn’t feel anything. You’re not going to spend too much time, we spend so much time holding up our shoulders and making sure that we’re breathing. We don’t even do it consciously. So they’re just pretty slack, everything’s kind of slack in the face. And, if anything, the two choices I made – one is motivated, one is not – because I tend to walk duck-footed in life, I just made ‘M’ very pigeon-toed and that alone changes my entire kind of body language. So that was kind of enough.”

Did you go through any major effects or makeup besides what you have on now? “No, not really. See because this is a move and I’m so godd*mn pretty. I’m so pretty that they wanted to retain this. Because this right here is the money [he points to his face]. You can’t scratch it up because the girls will be like “nuh-uh. No. Where’s the Rob Cordry we’ve come to be slightly repulsed by?”

Was there any type of zombie training camp or school? “Yeah actually. Nick and I spent an afternoon with this guy from Cirque Du Soleil and we kind of bounced around a room about this size for a couple hours and then went outside and ran. Because zombies can run. When we’re looking for food, they run. He actually helped me a lot. He had us lean up against a wall and sort of put all our weight on the wall and then sort of pull yourself slooowwly off the wall, [French accent] ‘As if the wall is giving birth to you”. It really appealed to my pretentious college theater training. And then we just walked around, stared at each other and grunted for a few hours.”

You seem pretty well informed about the Romero zombies and the ‘28 Days Later’ zombies. Are you a zombie guy? “Very much. Very much so. Before I even got this movie I was very fond of saying I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad zombie movie. And, really I’m hard pressed to think of one. Even the bad ones are pretty great I like all the ‘…Of The Dead’ movies. I like all of them. Even the worst George Romero one is the one that’s like in the 70’s with the army. It’s ‘Day Of The Dead’ and even ‘Day Of The Dead’ it’s like, ‘bright’. It’s daytime. It’s not his best but it’s still great. Oh and I’d have to say I think that the first ones I ever saw were those mid-80’s kind of comedic, campy zombie movies –”

Return Of The Living Dead? “’Return Of The Living Dead’.”

Jonathan Levine has some comedy chops and obviously you’re a comedian, how comical does this film get? “It’s less of a comedy than I thought it was, to tell you the truth. Like any good script it has its funny moments so it’s not just a dirge all the time. Dirge and romance. And my character is largely I guess at times the comedic relief. But that’s being very generous to say. I would say that it’s only funny in the way that a lot of these kinds of movies are. Like, young kind of romance. That’s what it is. Young romance with this kind of elemet to it.”

In the book ‘M’ was a sex fiend. Do zombies get boners? “Do I think zombies can get boners? Uh, no. Absolutely not. But I think that towards the end of then movie when they start becoming more human, I think ‘M’ is probably the first to experience one.”

What about the scene we’re doing today? What’s ‘M’s role in that? “Yeah, this is sort of my action badass scene. Which I love. I’ve got a couple of those, [Eastwood voice] ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ll go get ‘em” type of lines! And, ‘Take care of the girl I’m gonna go kick some ass”! I’ve got a couple of those lines in the movie and today I’ve got two of them. So that’s what I’m doing today. I’m being a badass zombie.”

JONATHAN LEVINE: PART ONE

After Corddry and before our belated lunch, we are ushered back onto set for an extended chat with Jonathan Levine. After watching him work for a few hours it’s readily apparent that he’s having a great time. He’s engaged with the material and is doing a good job of hiding the stress and strain that come hand in hand with helming his largest project yet. As we start talking about the film and wriggling around the various thematic elements that differentiate it from standard zombie fare we’ve begun to learn that it’s a rather unique love story as well.

“I like the love stuff, man. I like zombie movies and I like genre movies a lot. To watch. Less so to make, I think. But I grew up on that stuff. I would just grow up watching a lot of horror movies, a lot of slasher movies and then zombie movies.”

What was it about Nicholas especially [for this part]? “You’ll see. If Nick didn’t work, the whole movie’s preposterous. With every line he has to find what it means to be a talking zombie. There’s not that many historical references for talking zombies so he’s essentially creating it. He was interested in the role and he came in, and I really liked him from “Skins”, so we essentially did a workshop session together. It wasn’t so much an audition as much as it was trying to get it up on its feet and see whether it sucked or not. And he was just really really good right off the bat. Which is remarkable because the degree of difficulty of what he’s doing is incredibly high. And he immediately had a take on it that was great.”

Levine is asked about removing himself from video village while shooting earlier in the day and setting up camp against a pole, cross legged on the ground. Is that his style? Very laid back and chill? “I guess? People tell me I’m pretty mellow but I’m super stressed out the whole time. I mean sometimes I just go with a handheld and just like, sit. It’s nice because around here there’s 2,4,6,8,10 chairs. It’s nice to kind of get away from it. I like a pretty relaxed, fun set. Everyone knows they can bring whoever they want and hang out. That’s something I sort of learned from Seth and Evan on ’50/50’, because it was always kind of a party there and it shows onscreen when people are having a nice time. So yeah, it’s certainly laid back. I don’t know if you guys were here before lunch but we had to f*cking move and we made sure we did. But in between those kind of things it’s pretty mellow.”

How is he able to inject his typical irreverence into a bigger budget film aiming for a PG13 rating? “The PG13 thing is interesting because I’ve only ever done R-rated movies but it’s not a big deal because this movie’s not meant to be ‘R’. It’s not like I wish I could get that one extra ‘F*ck’, you know?. We have our ‘F*ck’ and we know where it is and we’re good with it. Yes, we like to push the envelope with the gore and the violence, but this movie’s about heart. It’s not about the gore and the violence even though we’ve shot some of the most disgusting things you will ever see. Eating the brains is pretty bad. I don’t think it will ever fully make it into the movie because it’s pretty hardcore.”

So it’ll have an R-Rated DVD? “R-Rated DVD. Exactly.”

In terms of zombie films, is he pulling from anything in particular? “Not really. ’28 Days Later’ to me is like my favorite. We watched both the Snyder ‘Dawn Of The Dead’ and the Romero ‘Dawn Of The Dead’. I watched all of the Romero ones. I watched ‘Return Of The Living Dead’, that one’s cool, man. I like that one. But as far as references it’s more of a ’28 Days Later’ or even ‘I Am Legend’ type reimagining of the mythology. I watched pretty much all I could. ‘Dead Alive… what else did I watch?”

You’ve got talking zombies, so Day Of The Dead? “’Day Of The Dead’, yeah that had talking zombies. But also ‘Return Of The Living Dead’ had talking zombies.” He shifts into a zombie voice, “Send more cops.”

That’s it for today. Be sure to check back later for PART 2 of our report, where we finish up the interview with Levine, watch a scene from the movie and have extended chats with Nicholas Hoult and Theresa Palmer.

The post [Special Feature] Becoming A Zombie On The Set Of ‘Warm Bodies’… PART ONE! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton also star.

The post Hi-res Image Gallery For ‘Warm Bodies’ Comes Shambling In appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Summit Entertainment has shared the opening 4 minutes from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane director Jonathan Levine’s Warm Bodies, which take us into the thoughts of R (Nicholas Hoult), the film’s protagonist zombie, as he shambles through an airport. The scene is slightly spoilerish as it reveals various kinds of undead. Ultimately, the footage is pretty intriguing, and carries a few laughs. What are your thoughts?

In theaters February 1, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton also star.

The post Watch The Opening Scene From ‘Warm Bodies’!!! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1 from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane‘s Jonathan Levine, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star.

The post German ‘Warm Bodies’ Poster Drops The Puns appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Another fun poster has been released for Summit’s Warm Bodies, this time a UK quad displaying out undead hero and his love interest.

In theaters February 1 from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane‘s Jonathan Levine, “Warm Bodies is a poignant tale about the power of human connection. After a zombie epidemic, R (a highly unusual zombie) encounters Julie (a human survivor), and rescues her from a zombie attack. Julie sees that R is different from the other zombies, and as the two form a special relationship in their struggle for survival, R becomes increasingly more human – setting off an exciting, romantic, and often comical chain of events that begins to transform the other zombies and maybe even the whole lifeless world.”

Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton all star.

The post Romance Revived On UK ‘Warm Bodies’ Quad appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1 from Summit Entertainment is Warm Bodies, a new kind of zombie film from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane director Jonathan Levine.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

The film’s Facebook page has been updated with a series of clever one-sheets that poke fun at the zombie genre.

“Zombies love people, especially their brains. But R (Nicholas Hoult) is different. He’s alive inside, unlike the hundreds of other grunting, drooling undead—all victims of a recent plague that drove the remaining survivors into a heavily guarded city. Now the Zombies roam about an airport terminal, searching for human prey and living in fear of the vicious Boneys, the next undead incarnation.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.”

The post More Of Those Clever ‘Warm Bodies’ Posters Show Brains appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1 from Summit Entertainment is Warm Bodies, a new kind of zombie film from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane director Jonathan Levine.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

The first trailer was definitely eyebrow raising, in a good way, as it was quirky, fun and pretty hilarious. The new trailer takes the same approach but takes viewers inside the zombie’s head. The thought process reminds me of “The Wonder Years” a bit. Added with the trailer from last week are two new stills that show the “evolution” of a zombie!

Watch for our report from the set in the coming months.

“Zombies love people, especially their brains. But R (Nicholas Hoult) is different. He’s alive inside, unlike the hundreds of other grunting, drooling undead—all victims of a recent plague that drove the remaining survivors into a heavily guarded city. Now the Zombies roam about an airport terminal, searching for human prey and living in fear of the vicious Boneys, the next undead incarnation.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.”

The post The Evolution Of New ‘Warm Bodies’ Stills! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1 from Summit Entertainment is Warm Bodies, a new kind of zombie film from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane director Jonathan Levine.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

The first trailer was definitely eyebrow raising, in a good way, as it was quirky, fun and pretty hilarious. The new trailer takes the same approach but takes viewers inside the zombie’s head. The thought process reminds me of “The Wonder Years” a bit…

Watch for our report from the set in the coming months.

“Zombies love people, especially their brains. But R (Nicholas Hoult) is different. He’s alive inside, unlike the hundreds of other grunting, drooling undead—all victims of a recent plague that drove the remaining survivors into a heavily guarded city. Now the Zombies roam about an airport terminal, searching for human prey and living in fear of the vicious Boneys, the next undead incarnation.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.“

The post New ‘Warm Bodies’ Trailer Has “Wonder Years” Vibe appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters February 1 from Summit Entertainment is Warm Bodies, a new kind of zombie film from All the Boys Love Mandy Lane director Jonathan Levine.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

We’ve landed the film’s official trailer, which is wonderfully fun and quirky. It’s a touch Zombieland, only it actually looks better (if that’s even possible). While some of you may scream “Twilight“, it looks anything but to me.

Watch for our report from the set in the coming months.

“Zombies love people, especially their brains. But R (Nicholas Hoult) is different. He’s alive inside, unlike the hundreds of other grunting, drooling undead—all victims of a recent plague that drove the remaining survivors into a heavily guarded city. Now the Zombies roam about an airport terminal, searching for human prey and living in fear of the vicious Boneys, the next undead incarnation.

A genre-bending tale of love and transformation, WARM BODIES is a story about a boy who loves a girl…for more than just her body.“

The post Quirky, Fun and Charming (Yes, Charming) Trailer For ‘Warm Bodies’! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “The story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

MTV just landed the first official poster that declares: “Cold body. Warm heart.” Watch for our report from the set in the coming months!

The post ‘Warm Bodies’ Poster Teases Zombie Affection appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

Summit Entertainment is moving director Jonathan Levine’s (All The Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Wackness, 50/50) hotly anticipated zombie flick Warm Bodies from August 10th to February 1, 2013.

Word is that the move has more to do with Summit’s newly crowded, Lionsgate infused, schedule rather than the quality of the film. This is something I’m willing to believe, as I have a lot of trust in Levine. I also visited the set in October – and while I can’t really talk much about that or reveal any details of any kind – what I saw impressed me. It seemed like he was very much bringing a personal vision to the film. And after subsequently reading the book, I’m convinced it’s a good piece of material for him to adapt.

I understand why Summit is sort of positioning it as being somewhat akin to Twilight – but I really think the film will prove to be much different, and better, than that. The source material certainly is.

So yeah, I’m kinda bummed I have to wait another six months to see it. Then again, it could actually be a great movie for Valentine’s day.

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Analeigh Tipton, “the story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

The post ‘Warm Bodies’ Date Shifts From August To February 2013 appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.

In theaters August 10 from Summit Entertainment is All the Boys Love Many Lane director Jonathan Levine’s hotly anticipated zombie flick Warm Bodies, which was teased the other night in the first ever leaked image. We’ve now landed a trio of hi-res looks Hoult as the central zombie character “R”. Dig on ’em inside!

Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, Rob Corddry, John Malkovich and Lizzy Caplan, “the story centers on an existentially tormented zombie who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims and starts a chain reaction that will transform him and his fellow zombies.”

The post Hi-Res ‘Warm Bodies’ Images Resurrect A Zombie Nicholas Hoult! appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.