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Jamie Lee Curtis: The Scream Queen Within

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Jamie Lee Curtis says that if she’d cast the first Halloween film, she wouldn’t have cast herself in the role of Laurie Strode, the shy, virginal babysitter who is terrorized by escaped psychopath Michael Myers. “I was very much a smart aleck back then,” says Curtis. “I was the total opposite of Laurie Strode, although I was shy, in a way, because of my teeth. I never wanted to smile because my teeth were crooked and gray, so I would just smirk at people. That helped me in playing Laurie Strode.”

Fast forward forty years. In the new Halloween film, which was directed by David Gordon Green, Laurie Strode is a gray-haired, gun-wielding grandmother who has spent much of her adult life preparing for Michael Myers’ inevitable return. “Every since she survived the first film, Laurie has been preparing for another confrontation with Michael,” says Curtis. “Her level of preparedness has intensified over time, and this obsession has damaged her relationships, especially with her daughter and granddaughter. Her approach is very realistic. She’s not going to drop a nuke on Michael, and she’s not going to employ a semi-automatic weapon. She embraces the reality of her life in Haddonfield, Illinois, and the resources that are available to her. She’s ready for Michael.”

Curtis last portrayed Laurie in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection, a critically-reviled sequel in which Laurie was killed. The new Halloween bypasses all of the lore that’s accumulated since the first film, an approach that Curtis heartily endorses. “What attracted me to this film was the script, plain and simple,” says Curtis. “I thought the script was very clever, especially in the way that it referenced the first Halloween film and connected that film to this new story. Psychologically, stylistically, visually, it feels like a continuation of the first film.”

Curtis was an un-credited producer on 1998’s Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and Curtis says that her creative input was incorporated into the new Halloween film’s shooting script. “I just polished the scenes that involve Laurie,” says Curtis. “I mentioned things that I thought Laurie would do and say, and sometimes I would say, ‘No. I don’t think she would do or say that.’ I think the biggest change in Laurie that developed throughout those conversations is that Laurie became less of a badass. She’s not Ripley, and she’s not Linda Hamilton from the Terminator films. Laurie is a true survivor.”

So is Curtis. The success of the first Halloween film didn’t lead to a flood of feature film offers for Curtis, who followed Halloween with five other horror films (The Fog, Prom Night, Terror Train, Road Games, and Halloween II). “I couldn’t get a job for seven months after I did Halloween,” says Curtis. “People were congratulation me about the success of Halloween, and I was eating at McDonald’s.”

The Fog, the first feature film Curtis appeared in after Halloween, re-teamed Curtis with Halloween co-creators John Carpenter and Debra Hill. The Fog also co-starred Curtis’s mother, Hollywood legend Janet Leigh, although Curtis and Leigh barely cross paths in the film. “My mother and I spent years trying to find a project that we could star in together, and I didn’t want that to be exploited,” says Curtis. “The script for The Fog wasn’t about me and my mother, so that made me feel a lot better.”

Curtis followed The Fog with Prom Night, which began filming in Toronto, Canada, in August of 1979. In November of 1979, Curtis traveled to Montreal, where Curtis celebrated her twenty-first birthday during the filming of Terror Train. “It took The Fog a long time to get released, so I was anxious to find another movie, any movie,” says Curtis. “I was basically looking for anyone who wanted me, and I knew that would mean doing another horror movie. If I’d been a producer at that time, I wouldn’t have looked at me for anything other than horror, because that’s all I’d done.”

Curtis was nineteen years old when she acted in the first Halloween film. Curtis turns sixty on November 22. “I want to be older,” says Curtis. “I actually think there’s an incredible amount of self-knowledge that comes with getting older. I feel way better now than I did when I was twenty. I’m stronger, and I’m smarter in every way. I’m so much less crazy than I was then.”

For more information on Jamie Lee Curtis and her scream queen career, read the book Jamie Lee Curtis: Scream Queen, which is available in paperback and through kindle.

 

 

 

 

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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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