News
Nick Antosca, Lenore Zion on Bringing ‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ to Life
Brand New Cherry Flavor is set to debut on Netflix this Friday, August 13th, and we couldn’t think of a more appropriate day for it!
Set in the seedy world of Los Angeles in the early 90s, Brand New Cherry Flavor tells the story of Lisa Nova (Rosa Salazar), a young filmmaker who arrives in Hollywood ready to make her big screen dreams come true. When she’s taken advantage of by a hot shot producer (Eric Lange), Lisa turns to a mysterious woman named Boro (Catherine Keener) who sets her on a path that will rip her whole world apart while dismantling his, as well.
The eight-episode limited series was created by Nick Antosca (The Act) and Lenore Zion (Channel Zero), based on the novel by Todd Grimson, and the showrunners sat down with iHorror to discuss the process of bringing this incredibly off-kilter story to life.
Antosca became aware of Grimson back in the late ’00s after discovering some of the author’s short stories online. He and Grimson began exchanging emails and the author told Antosca he should check out his 1996 novel Brand New Cherry Flavor.
“I read it and I didn’t know what to expect,” he explained. “I was just sort of taken aback. It stuck with me. The Lisa Nova character stuck with me. She’s this sort of amoral, yet relatable, artist who has got this stuff inside of her that she’s trying to get out into this sort of nightmare world of Hollywood and LA.”
Eventually Antosca took his own trip to Los Angeles where he began working as a writer in movies and television. It was then he met Zion when they were working together on Channel Zero.
Soon, he brought up the novel to Zion who was also unfamiliar with it. His question: is there something here that can be adapted?
“He sent me the book and I read it,” Zion said. “Todd has this sort of unrestrained imagination that is so wild and so fun to read. It’s one of those books that has endless possibilities for adaptation. I think any writer would get excited reading it and imagining what they might do with it.”
When adapting a book to another medium, there are several questions to tackle: What do you include from the source narrative? What do you leave on the page? And what do you need/want to add that will help the story translate to the screen while also adding a flourish or two of your own?
They’re difficult questions at the best of the times and perhaps even more so when the source material is as broad and unusual as Grimson’s novel.
As Antosca pointed out, they wanted to remain spiritually faithful to the original, honoring what Grimson wrote in Brand New Cherry Flavor, while paring the story down so that it could be told in one season, rather than five, on Netflix.
“So, we kind of mixed and matched,” he said. “We took the stuff that Todd created. We used some of that. We sent him the scripts as we worked. He was involved in the creative process. Then we brought some of our own stuff to it. I mean like the kittens were not in the book. That was Lenore’s idea. We just kind of fell in love with it. You could take it as a metaphor if you want. There’s a lot of that stuff that came from our own nightmares.”
The kittens…well, we’re not going to tell you about the kittens. We’re just going to tell you to watch Brand New Cherry Flavor to see for yourself.
With the story locked into place, it was important to find exactly the right actors to embody them, and both Zion and Antosca were over the moon at their luck in casting Keener and Salazar to lead their story.
“Catherine [Keener] is electric on screen,” Zion pointed out. “She has that thing. She’s got such a unique and skillful delivery of dryness and…there’s nobody who delivers emotion in quite such a unique way as Catherine. We were very lucky to get her. She brought a ton of her personal touches to her character right down to the wardrobe.”
“For Lisa Nova, we needed somebody who could do everything,” Antosca added. “Lisa Nova, the character, can be a bit of a cypher. She’s the protagonist but at the same time, she does some pretty crazy stuff, too. And goes to some really intense places. It’s hard to find an actress who can do all of that, but Rosa [Salazar] can. We were really lucky to get her as Lisa Nova. Her chemistry with Catherine, with Eric Lange who plays Lou, with everybody in the cast is crucial.”
As for the look of the show, they relied heavily upon their director of photography who, Zion says, was crucial to creating the look and feel of the series.
“We got very lucky with our DP Celiana Cárdenas,” she explained. “She is a genius and had a very specific and particular view of the show and the world of the show and she brought it to life beautifully. It looks beautiful because of her. Arkasha Stevenson who directed the pilot, she also contributed this crazy idea of the world that she had already prepackaged in her head somehow. Between those two we got a beautiful world for Brand New Cherry Flavor.”
You can see Brand New Cherry Flavor in its entirety on Friday, August 13, 2021, and we fully recommend a binge! Check out the trailer below and get ready for something like you’ve never seen before!
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
Movies
Trailer for ‘The Exorcism’ Has Russell Crowe Possessed
The latest exorcism movie is about to drop this summer. It’s aptly titled The Exorcism and it stars Academy Award winner turned B-movie savant Russell Crowe. The trailer dropped today and by the looks of it, we are getting a possession movie that takes place on a movie set.
Just like this year’s recent demon-in-media-space film Late Night With the Devil, The Exorcism happens during a production. Although the former takes place on a live network talk show, the latter is on an active sound stage. Hopefully, it won’t be entirely serious and we’ll get some meta chuckles out of it.
The film will open in theaters on June 7, but since Shudder also acquired it, it probably won’t be long after that until it finds a home on the streaming service.
Crowe plays, “Anthony Miller, a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter, Lee (Ryan Simpkins), wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play. The film also stars Sam Worthington, Chloe Bailey, Adam Goldberg and David Hyde Pierce.”
Crowe did see some success in last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist mostly because his character was so over-the-top and infused with such comical hubris it bordered on parody. We will see if that is the route actor-turned-director Joshua John Miller takes with The Exorcism.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
News
Win a Stay at The Lizzie Borden House From Spirit Halloween
Spirit Halloween has declared that this week marks the start of spooky season and to celebrate they are offering fans a chance to stay at the Lizzie Borden House with so many perks Lizzie herself would approve.
The Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, MA is claimed to be one of the most haunted houses in America. Of course one lucky winner and up to 12 of their friends will find out if the rumors are true if they win the grand prize: A private stay in the notorious house.
“We are delighted to work with Spirit Halloween to roll out the red carpet and offer the public a chance to win a one-of-a-kind experience at the infamous Lizzie Borden House, which also includes additional haunted experiences and merchandise,” said Lance Zaal, President & Founder of US Ghost Adventures.
Fans can enter to win by following Spirit Halloween‘s Instagram and leaving a comment on the contest post from now through April 28.
The prize also includes:
An exclusive guided house tour, including insider insight around the murder, the trial, and commonly reported hauntings
A late-night ghost tour, complete with professional ghost-hunting gear
A private breakfast in the Borden family dining room
A ghost hunting starter kit with two pieces of Ghost Daddy Ghost Hunting Gear and a lesson for two at US Ghost Adventures Ghost Hunting Course
The ultimate Lizzie Borden gift package, featuring an official hatchet, the Lizzie Borden board game, Lily the Haunted Doll, and America’s Most Haunted Volume II
Winner’s choice of a Ghost Tour experience in Salem or a True Crime experience in Boston for two
“Our Halfway to Halloween celebration provides fans an exhilarating taste of what’s to come this fall and empowers them to start planning for their favorite season as early as they please,” said Steven Silverstein, CEO of Spirit Halloween. “We have cultivated an incredible following of enthusiasts who embody the Halloween lifestyle, and we’re thrilled to bring the fun back to life.”
Spirit Halloween is also preparing for their retail haunted houses. On Thursday, August 1 their flagship store in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. will officially open to start off the season. That event usually draws in hordes of people eager to see what new merch, animatronics, and exclusive IP goods will be trending this year.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
Movies
’28 Years Later’ Trilogy Taking Shape With Serious Star Power
Danny Boyle is revisiting his 28 Days Later universe with three new films. He will direct the first, 28 Years Later, with two more to follow. Deadline is reporting that sources say Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Ralph Fiennes have been cast for the first entry, a sequel to the original. Details are being kept under wraps so we don’t know how or if the first original sequel 28 Weeks Later fits into the project.
Boyle will direct the first movie but it’s unclear which role he will take on in the subsequent films. What is known is Candyman (2021) director Nia DaCosta is scheduled to direct the second film in this trilogy and that the third will be filmed immediately afterward. Whether DaCosta will direct both is still unclear.
Alex Garland is writing the scripts. Garland is having a successful time at the box office right now. He wrote and directed the current action/thriller Civil War which was just knocked out of the theatrical top spot by Radio Silence’s Abigail.
There is no word yet on when, or where, 28 Years Later will start production.
The original film followed Jim (Cillian Murphy) who wakes from a coma to find that London is currently dealing with a zombie outbreak.
'Civil War' Review: Is It Worth Watching?
Follow our new YouTube channel "Mysteries and Movies" here.
-
News6 days ago
Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role
-
Strange and Unusual7 days ago
Man Arrested for Allegedly Taking a Severed Leg From Crash Site And Eating It
-
News5 days ago
Original Blair Witch Cast Ask Lionsgate for Retroactive Residuals in Light of New Film
-
Editorial6 days ago
7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch
-
Movies5 days ago
Spider-Man With a Cronenberg Twist in This Fan-Made Short
-
Movies6 days ago
Cannabis-Themed Horror Movie ‘Trim Season’ Official Trailer
-
News2 days ago
Perhaps the Scariest, Most Disturbing Series of The Year
-
Movies4 days ago
New F-Bomb Laden ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Trailer: Bloody Buddy Movie
You must be logged in to post a comment Login