Movies
Chloé Zhao to Direct Futuristic Sci-Fi Western Spin on Dracula
In the wake of her Golden Globe nominations yesterday, celebrated director Chloé Zhao has revealed that she will be reinterpreting the Dracula myth for Universal Pictures as an “original, futuristic, sci-fi Western,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Universal has been working on their strategy for reintroducing their classic movie monsters for awhile, at first attempting the “Dark Universe” with Dracula Untold in 2014 and The Mummy in 2017 which laid the final nail in the concept’s coffin.
That all changed with Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man last year, which encouraged Universal to approve more original stories for their monsters directed by talented and visionary filmmakers with unique styles.
Chloé Zhao Takes a Bite From Dracula
Zhao is the latest to helm a project focusing on reinterpreting the monsters. She is especially turning heads after her latest film, Nomadland, was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Picture and Director. The director also helmed the soon-to-be-released Marvel film The Eternals.
From The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures president Peter Cramer said of the announcement: “Chloé’s singular lens shines a light on stories of the overlooked and misunderstood… We are thrilled to be working with her as she reimagines one of the most iconic outsider characters ever created.”
Other Universal Monster Films in the Works
Universal has a number of different monster films in the works at this time. These include Elizabeth Banks with The Invisible Woman, Karyn Kusama also helming a Dracula story, James Wan with an unannounced film (will it be Creature from the Black Lagoon? A girl can wish), Paul Feig (Ghostbusters (2016)) working on Dark Army, Dexter Fletcher (Rocketman) taking on Dracula’s assistant Renfield, and a Wolf Man film starring Ryan Gosling which currently has no director attached.
Will this be the start of a new era of Universal monsters, or another dead end? With such a talented lineup of directors, especially Zhao, and considering the masterpiece that The Invisible Man was, it’s hard to NOT be optimistic.
Check in with iHorror for more updates on the future of Zhao’s Dracula and all other Universal monster films.
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Movies
‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments
It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.
We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.
“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”
That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”
Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:
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Movies
Fede Alvarez Teases ‘Alien: Romulus’ With RC Facehugger
Happy Alien Day! To celebrate director Fede Alvarez who is helming the latest sequel in the Alien franchise Alien: Romulus, got out his toy Facehugger in the SFX workshop. He posted his antics on Instagram with the following message:
“Playing with my favorite toy on set of #AlienRomulus last summer. RC Facehugger created by the amazing team from @wetaworkshop Happy #AlienDay everybody!”
To commemorate the 45th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s original Alien movie, April 26 2024 has been designated as Alien Day, with a re-release of the film hitting theaters for a limited time.
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the franchise and is currently in post-production with a scheduled theatrical release date of August 16, 2024.
In other news from the Alien universe, James Cameron has been pitching fans the boxed set of Aliens: Expanded a new documentary film, and a collection of merch associated with the movie with pre-sales ending on May 5.
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Movies
‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening
Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.
Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.
Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.
Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.
Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.
The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.
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