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Creepshow – The Friendship of Romero and Stephen King

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Welcome back Nasties, to Manic’s Monstrosity of Macabre Memories where horror’s dastardly history is celebrated in all it’s ghastliness. Take a seat, cozy up with the ghoul of your dreams as we delve headfirst into the bone-chilling conclusion of George A Romero and Stephen King’s insatiable CREEPSHOW.

George Romero had just released his unique take on vampirism, Martin, and Warner Bros. took notice of the man’s brilliant vision. They suggested he meet up with an up-and-coming writer named Stephen King. After all, Romero had just released a vampire movie and King had just written a new vampire classic, Salem’s Lot. The logic being a vampire director should naturally meet a vampire writer.

That’s how Hollywood works sometimes, and in this case, it was in the best interest of the fans. The studio flew Romero out to meet King for the first time, and Romero admitted he knew of Carrie but – other than that – precious little else concerning Stephen King. The two met and after hanging out for three days they quickly became good friends. It was a friendship that would last until the end.

 

image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Honestly it was magic – dark, brooding, thunderous magic, but magic nonetheless – in the making. At the end of the trip, the two creative minds talked about bringing The Stand to the silver screen. It was King’s intention for Romero to direct his seminal epic of the apocalypse and the ultimate battle between Good and Evil.

Could you imagine what we almost had if this plan had gone through? It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up just thinking about it! The studio – on the other hand –  didn’t want to risk taking on such an enormous undergoing and decided to turn it into a made-for-TV special, which has earned itself its own cult following – but oh what we almost had!

However, in spite of this set back the two masters of horror kept in touch, and how lucky for us they did! For as the dark fates would have it Romero had been brewing up an idea for a fresh anthology film and met up with King to discuss the new project.

Stephen King leaped at the idea and without any doubt knew the anthology project had to be based entirely on the old scary comic books released by EC. Today – with all the excitement there is over comic-book cinema – it’s fun to know that Creepshow is in fact among the earliest of the genre. Seems as if our devilish duo were trend-setters.

image via Bloody Disgusting

Stephen King took hold of the script and wrote with such furious passion you would think a demon was driving him to completion. Memories of the good ol’ days flowed from his twisted mind and onto the pages, opening beautifully dark visions of a bygone (spooky) era. An era he fully intended to unleash upon horror fans around the world.

Being the genius that he was, Romero knew King was on to something big and left it in King’s hands. Within a few weeks, King handed a script to Romero and the two made history.

And guess what? It was an instant success!

What touches me most about the origins of Creepshow is the friendships behind the screams. According to interviews by both Stephen King and George Romero, there was never a hint of jealousy or rivalry. These were two masters of the genre who went about telling terror in their own different mediums, but both men respected one other and worked as a team rather than opponents.

It’s refreshing to see men from the same field but with two opposite means collaborating to give fans a hell of an experience. It’s a trait – the gift of friendship – I’d like to see take over more people across the field.

George Romero credited Stephen King for Creepshow. However, both men say (or playfully blame) Romero for casting Stephen King in the role of Jordy Verrill in the fan-praised second segment The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill.

image courtesy of Warner Bros.

This was a hilarious treat for fans to get to see Stephen King lumping around as the lovable doofus who has a bad run-in with some “meteor shit.” Trust me, if you haven’t already, you really must go watch this segment right away. You’ll be doing yourself a favor. Honestly, I couldn’t even write about it with a straight face. It’s just some good and goofy fun

Poor ol’ Jordy. Let this be a lesson to us all. If we see a glowing rock fall from the night sky let’s not go picking it up.

Please continue on to Page 2 for additional creepy content

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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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Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film

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The Blair Witch Project Cast

Jason Blum is planning to reboot The Blair Witch Project for the second time. That’s a fairly large task considering none of the reboots or sequels have managed to capture the magic of the 1999 film that brought found footage into the mainstream.

This idea has not been lost on the original Blair Witch cast, who has recently reached out to Lionsgate to ask for what they feel is fair compensation for their role in the pivotal film. Lionsgate gained access to The Blair Witch Project in 2003 when they purchased Artisan Entertainment.

Blair witch
The Blair Witch Project Cast

However, Artisan Entertainment was an independent studio before its purchase, meaning the actors were not part of SAG-AFTRA. As a result, the cast are not entitled to the same residuals from the project as actors in other major films. The cast doesn’t feel that the studio should be able to continue to profit off of their hard work and likenesses without fair compensation.

Their most recent request asks for “meaningful consultation on any future ‘Blair Witch’ reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc., in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.”

The blair witch project

At this time, Lionsgate has not offered any comment about this issue.

The full statement made by the cast can be found below.

OUR ASKS OF LIONSGATE (From Heather, Michael & Josh, stars of “The Blair Witch Project”):

1. Retroactive + future residual payments to Heather, Michael and Josh for acting services rendered in the original BWP, equivalent to the sum that would’ve been allotted through SAG-AFTRA, had we had proper union or legal representation when the film was made.

2. Meaningful consultation on any future Blair Witch reboot, sequel, prequel, toy, game, ride, escape room, etc…, in which one could reasonably assume that Heather, Michael & Josh’s names and/or likenesses will be associated for promotional purposes in the public sphere.

Note: Our film has now been rebooted twice, both times were a disappointment from a fan/box office/critical perspective. Neither of these films were made with significant creative input from the original team. As the insiders who created the Blair Witch and have been listening to what fans love & want for 25 years, we’re your single greatest, yet thus-far un-utilized secret-weapon!

3. “The Blair Witch Grant”: A 60k grant (the budget of our original movie), paid out yearly by Lionsgate, to an unknown/aspiring genre filmmaker to assist in making theirfirst feature film. This is a GRANT, not a development fund, hence Lionsgate will not own any of the underlying rights to the project.

A PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE DIRECTORS & PRODUCERS OF “THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT”:

As we near the 25th anniversary of The Blair Witch Project, our pride in the storyworld we created and the film we produced is reaffirmed by the recent announcement of a reboot by horror icons Jason Blum and James Wan.

While we, the original filmmakers, respect Lionsgate’s right to monetize the intellectual property as it sees fit, we must highlight the significant contributions of the original cast — Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Mike Williams. As the literal faces of what has become a franchise, their likenesses, voices, and real names are inseparably tied to The Blair Witch Project. Their unique contributions not only defined the film’s authenticity but continue to resonate with audiences around the world.

We celebrate our film’s legacy, and equally, we believe the actors deserve to be celebrated for their enduring association with the franchise.

Sincerely, Eduardo Sanchez, Dan Myrick, Gregg Hale, Robin Cowie, and Michael Monello

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