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Indie Spotlight: Jaiden Frost and His “Victims of Burial”

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Jaiden Frost loves making movies, and he doesn’t back down when the going gets tough.  When some of his funding fell through for his latest movie, Victims of Burial, Frost knew he was in a tough spot.  Rather than scrap the project, however, he sat down and came up  with a plan to make that money back.

The plan is genius.

“We were building so much hype,” Frost told me.  “Local news stories, local magazine articles, etc. I couldn’t let it fall flat. So I came up with the idea of making it a book first. Promoting it with a prequel. So we shot a promotional cinematic trailer for it and released the first eight chapters of the prequel for free.”

You can read those first eight chapters on the Victims of Burial Facebook page.  What you’ll find in those eight chapters is a story that is as fun and nostalgic as it is scary.

Welker, Nicole, Idira, and Casey have been hunting ghosts together since they were in school in a small town in North Carolina.  Idira and Casey…well, they aren’t the strongest members of the group.  Unfortunately, they know that Welker and Nicole think so. It doesn’t bother Casey so much, but it’s obviously been eating away at Idira.

So, late one night, she brings Casey along to the old town cemetery in search of the spirit of a woman said to be as violent in death as she was in life.  And while Casey is more interested in finding a Gengar on Pokemon Go, he soon finds himself in the middle of a deadly confrontation with old Velma’s ghost

Fun, right?  Right!  Furthermore, the writer/director promises more novellas and a full novelization of his script to come along as precursors for this film he is determined to make.

:” I don’t feel like failure is an option. There are plenty of roads to take to success, just most people try to stay on the interstate, despite the traffic,” Frost told me when we spoke earlier this week.

Indeed, the project is far too important and personal to the director to give up, now.  The books and film are set in the tiny North Carolina town where he grew up and he took pains to make sure that all facets of his town were represented.

“Where I grew up, it was a cultural melting pot. I wanted to show that heavily by making each member of the Buried a different race and giving them all authentic voices that a person of that area would have. This is the first time a Lumbee Native American character has ever existed, a tribe very specific to the region I grew up. They’ve been battling to be considered a nationally recognized tribe for decades and I hope that my project can help them in some way.”

In many ways, this is the very essence of independent film making.  Local, homegrown talent showing the world what it’s made of despite the obstacles in its path.  jaiden Frost and his team personify this driving, hard working spirit.

Make sure you follow Victims of Burial on Facebook for all the latest news, trailers and more.

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The Original ‘Beetlejuice’ Sequel Had an Interesting Location

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Back in the late ’80s and early ’90s sequels to hit movies weren’t as linear as they are today. It was more like “let’s re-do the situation but in a different location.” Remember Speed 2, or National Lampoon’s European Vacation? Even Aliens, as good as it is, follows a lot of the plot points of the original; people stuck on a ship, an android, a little girl in peril instead of a cat. So it makes sense that one of the most popular supernatural comedies of all time, Beetlejuice would follow the same pattern.

In 1991 Tim Burton was interested in doing a sequel to his 1988 original, it was called Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian:

“The Deetz family moves to Hawaii to develop a resort. Construction begins, and it’s quickly discovered that the hotel will be sitting on top of an ancient burial ground. Beetlejuice comes in to save the day.”

Burton liked the script but wanted some re-writes so he asked then-hot screenwriter Daniel Waters who had just got done contributing to Heathers. He passed on the opportunity so producer David Geffen offered it to Troop Beverly Hills scribe Pamela Norris to no avail.

Eventually, Warner Bros. asked Kevin Smith to punch up Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian, he scoffed at the idea, saying, “Didn’t we say all we needed to say in the first Beetlejuice? Must we go tropical?”

Nine years later the sequel was killed. The studio said Winona Ryder was now too old for the part and an entire re-cast needed to happen. But Burton never gave up, there were a lot of directions he wanted to take his characters, including a Disney crossover.

“We talked about lots of different things,” the director said in Entertainment Weekly. “That was early on when we were going, Beetlejuice and the Haunted MansionBeetlejuice Goes West, whatever. Lots of things came up.”

Fast-forward to 2011 when another script was pitched for a sequel. This time the writer of Burton’s Dark Shadows,  Seth Grahame-Smith was hired and he wanted to make sure the story wasn’t a cash-grabbing remake or reboot. Four years later, in 2015, a script was approved with both Ryder and Keaton saying they would return to their respective roles. In 2017 that script was revamped and then eventually shelved in 2019.

During the time the sequel script was being tossed around in Hollywood, in 2016 an artist named Alex Murillo posted what looked like one-sheets for a Beetlejuice sequel. Although they were fabricated and had no affiliation with Warner Bros. people thought they were real.

Perhaps the virality of the artwork sparked interest in a Beetlejuice sequel once again, and finally, it was confirmed in 2022 Beetlejuice 2 had a green light from a script written by Wednesday writers  Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. The star of that series Jenna Ortega signed on to the new movie with filming starting in 2023. It was also confirmed that Danny Elfman would return to do the score.

Burton and Keaton agreed that the new film titled Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice wouldn’t rely on CGI or other other forms of technology. They wanted the film to feel “handmade.” The film wrapped in November 2023.

It’s been over three decades to come up with a sequel to Beetlejuice. Hopefully, since they said aloha to Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian there has been enough time and creativity to ensure Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice will not only honor the characters, but fans of the original.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice will open theatrically on September 6.

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Russell Crowe To Star in Another Exorcism Movie & It’s Not a Sequel

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Maybe it’s because The Exorcist just celebrated its 50th-anniversary last year, or maybe it’s because aging Academy Award-winning actors aren’t too proud to take on obscure roles, but Russell Crowe is visiting the Devil once again in yet another possession film. And it’s not related to his last one, The Pope’s Exorcist.

According to Collider, the film titled The Exorcism was originally going to be released under the name The Georgetown Project. Rights for its North American release were once in the hands of Miramax but then went to Vertical Entertainment. It will release on June 7 in theaters then head over to Shudder for subscribers.

Crowe will also star in this year’s upcoming Kraven the Hunter which is set to drop in theaters on August 30.

As for The Exorcism, Collider provides us with what it’s about:

“The film centers around actor Anthony Miller (Crowe), whose troubles come to the forefront as he shoots a supernatural horror movie. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) has to figure out whether he’s lapsing into his past addictions, or if something even more horrific is occurring. “

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New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie

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Deadpool & Wolverine might be the buddy movie of the decade. The two heterodox superheroes are back in the latest trailer for the summer blockbuster, this time with more f-bombs than a gangster film.

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Movie Trailer

This time the focus is on Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman. The adamantium-infused X-Man is having a bit of a pity party when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) arrives on the scene who then tries to convince him to team up for selfish reasons. The result is a profanity-filled trailer with a Strange surprise at the end.

Deadpool & Wolverine is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. It comes out on July 26. Here is the latest trailer, and we suggest if you are at work and your space isn’t private, you might want to put in headphones.

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