Dimension Tagged Articles at Cinematical

By: Scott Weinberg

Good news and bad news, horror freaks ... although of course your mileage may vary on both. Despite the fact that Rob Zombie's Halloween 2 opened in third place this weekend, its $17 million haul was obviously enough to keep the Weinstein brothers happy. In a (very) recent article in the L.A. Times movie section, it was announced that Bob Weinstein and Dimension are planning to move forward with a Halloween 3-D, which will arrive in theaters almost precisely a year from today.

I call that the bad news, but really, not all that bad, since I've spent most of my life sifting through horror sequels, and I call that fun. The good news? "Weinstein said Rob Zombie, who directed "Halloween II" and 2007's reboot of the 31-year-old horror series, won't return for "Halloween 3-D." He said the studio is in negotiations with a new director, whom he declined to name, who has experience in horror and has a "different take" on the franchise." (Again, full article here.)

Read the rest over at Horror Squad

That headline seems to be a bit harsh, considering that Dimension Extreme recently gave me very fine DVDs of Teeth, Diary of the Dead, Inside, and Welcome to the Jungle -- but those flicks were just pick-ups. To get a better example of what Dimension plans to produce for next year, we look at titles like Feast 3 and a new version of Children of the Corn. Also on tap: A new trilogy from writer/director Marcus Dunstan called Midnight Man, a zombie flick called Dead By Daylight, another Pulse sequel, and (for some reason) a follow-up to Hell Ride.

According to Variety, the Weinsteins aim to copy the video technique they used a few years back when they made money on the (rather lame) sequels to Hellraiser, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Crow, and The Prophecy. But at least I enjoyed Feast 2, so that kind of makes up for Pulse 2. And yes, apparently there will be more Halloween flicks, but no word on if Rob Zombie will be involved. In total Dimension has 18 new video titles lined up for 2009, but apparently they're keeping quiet on a bunch of them.

On the theatrical front, Dimension is still working on that 3-D Piranha remake ... and don't they still own the rights to Stephen King's Cell? What gives there?

Last year I saw Gracie, a movie about a teenage girl who wants to play high-school soccer in the late 1970s, when the game was considered a males-only sport in America, and faces a lot of opposition from her school. I finished my review with the line, "If it were football, would we be agreeing more with Gracie's opponents?" The Longshots gives us the opportunity to consider that question. Can we sympathize with, and cheer on, a girl who wants to succeed as a quarterback in an all-boys' football league? The answer is yes, because The Longshots focuses on characters and personal relationships and as a result, feels richer and more satisfying than the standard sports-genre film.

The story is simple and except for the girl-quarterback angle, old-fashioned in a Capra-esque way. Jasmine (Keke Palmer) is a middle-school loner and misfit in a small town hit by economic troubles. Her mom Claire (Tasha Smith) has to work longer hours at the diner -- dad ditched town and family several years ago -- and Jasmine is still too young to be left alone after school. So Claire pleads, nags and finally bribes her husband's brother Curtis (Ice Cube), an unemployed ex-football player, to keep an eye on his niece Jasmine. Of course they can't stand each other at first, but eventually Curtis discovers that Jasmine has an excellent throwing arm and teaches her how to be a quarterback. Meanwhile, the town's playground football team is languishing, and one thing they're missing is a decent quarterback, sooo ...

In case you haven't noticed yet, Hollywood has become real interested in adapting comic books and graphic novels -- and actors who wouldn't normally take on this kind of material (um, Edward Burns?) are suddenly racing to acquire the next "hot" property. Personally, I've been waiting for Ice Cube to take off his diaper for awhile now; the man hasn't starred in a film that kicked ass since xXx: State of the Union, and even that wasn't very spectacular. Prior to that, he starred in the weird motorcycle flick Torque, but in all honesty I have to go all the way back to 1999 (and Three Kings) to find the last enjoyable film starring Ice Cube. Now, hopefully, that's about to change. Variety reports that Cube's shingle is circling a big-screen adaptation of the graphic novel 10, by Shannon Eric Denton and Keith Giffen. Gustin Nash and Jesse Cale have already adapted 10 for Dimension, and Cube would come onboard (most likely) as a producer and the film's star.

I'm already jazzed about this project, because the story has tons and tons of potential. How's this for a set up: Some guy receives a piece of junk mail informing him that he's in a competition with nine other people, and the last person left alive wins. At first he thinks it's bogus (my neurotic ass would be at the police precinct in 10 seconds), but when some dude with an ax shows up at his door, the game is officially on. I haven't read the graphic novel, although part of me wants to pick that sucker up, like, today. Writer Gustin Nash was also the guy hired to adapt one of my favorite books of all time -- Youth in Revolt. And if he can make that book work on the big screen (trust me, if you've read it, you'll know that's no small task), then I have very good feelings about 10. What about you?

We knew something was just a tad off when the only poster for the soon-to-be-released indie horror flick All the Boys Love Mandy Lane hit streets only two weeks before the flick was supposed to land in theaters. Not to mention the marketing campaign was non-existent (Cinematical has spent more time hyping up this film than The Weinstein Co. or Dimension Films). And so I'm not surprised to hear (via Shock Till You Drop) that rumor has it Weinstein/Dimension has officially dropped Mandy Lane from its July 20 slot. Keep in mind this hasn't been confirmed, and there's no information on whether the film will be released at a later date instead, but all signs are pointing to ... Mandy Lane getting screwed, but not loved.

The film, which first premiered at last year's Toronto Film Festival (to rave reviews from our own James Rocchi), focuses on a pretty girl (Amber Heard) who's invited to a weekend party at a secluded ranch. However, once there, partygoers begin mysteriously disappearing one by one -- and, well, so it goes. Could this hesitation on Dimension's part have something to do with the negative attention horror films have been receiving lately, and/or the box office failure that was Grindhouse? And what does this mean for the other fantastic horror-related films The Weinstein Co. picked up from various festivals throughout the year -- like, say, Teeth (which is a film I absolutely loved and haven't heard a peep about since seeing it in Berlin back in February)? Chalk this one up as rumor for now; we'll let you know when more info is revealed.

It seems unusual that Dimension Films is only now releasing a poster to promote All the Boys Love Mandy Lane ... less than two weeks before the indie horror movie's July 20 theatrical release. Most marketing plans for mainstream films these days include multiple teaser posters before the final one-sheet is released. Mandy Lane sounds like an entertaining movie: James Rocchi reviewed the movie at Toronto International Film Festival last year and called it "the best modern slasher film since Scream." Dimension Films, the Weinsteins' genre-film company, bought the distribution rights during the festival, where the film generated a lot of positive buzz. Perhaps the recent decline in box-office for horror films has Dimension wary, or perhaps they've been jumpy since their unsuccessful U.S. release of Grindhouse.

The poster itself doesn't hide from the fact that All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is a horror film, perhaps with a slight twist of dark humor. I like the limited color palette and the fiery look of the background color. I hope that in the actual printed poster, the "D" in "Dying" doesn't look so much like an "L," though, because it confused me at first glimpse. The focus is on the sultry, shadowy image of Amber Heard in the title role, as a high-school girl whose weekend getaway with a group of friends turns into nightmarish horror. The film, directed by Jonathan Levine, was shot around Austin and includes a cameo from musician Robert Earl Keen, so although I'm not a big horror-movie fan I may check it out when it hits local theaters. Keep an eye out next week for a Cinematical interview by James Rocchi with Mandy Lane's screenwriter, Jacob Forman.

When the fine folks at Dimension Films aren't pulling four-year-old horror flicks out of their vault, remaking the latest Asian horror movies or trimming their terrors down to earn a PG-13 rating ... they do direct-to-video sequels like nobody's business. This is the distributor that kept oozing Hellraiser, Dracula, Crow and Prophecy sequels from every available pore -- not that the horror fans were actually clamoring for those cheap knock-off follow-ups. But with those franchises pretty much exhausted (in more ways than one), it seems that Los Weinsteins are poking around for some newer ones.

According to Moviehole.net, the American remake Pulse is a candidate for the "churn out two" treatment. Unlikely that Kristen Bell will be returning, but word is that two new sequels to Pulse will hit the shelves eventually. The original Americanized Pulse grossed only $20 million domestically (and another $7 million overseas), but why let facts and figures get in the way of your low-end, low-quality DTV slate? Can Cursed 2 and Mindhunters 3 be far behind? (Frankly I find it kind of irritating that these sequels will go into production well before solid flicks like Black Sheep, Teeth and All the Boys Love Mandy Lane hit the screens. C'mon Weinsteins, hook us up!)

In related news, Bloody-Disgusting.com is reporting that the Weinsteins also want to mount a pair of Feast sequels, which I find somewhat hilarious when you consider the ridiculous way in which they handled the original Feast's theatrical release. (Midnight showings for two nights only! Bring your friends!) Feast writers Patrick Melton and Marcus Dunston (who may end up writing Saw 4, don't forget) recently dropped some vague little hints about the pair of sequels, but I'll believe it when I see it. (And considering the Dimension track record, we'll be seeing 'em in about four years.) Still, it's pretty rare to hear multiple-sequel news for a movie that made less than $57,000 at the box office, but Feast is quite the fun little flick. Pulse, on the other hand, is not. Like, at all.

Dimension Films -- they're the ones responsible for not only Scary Movie's distribution but, through Miramax, were the home for Sin City and the upcoming B-Movie love fest Grindhouse. Variety reports Dimension is trying to bring back the "erotic thriller"-- cue cheesy porn music here -- and so they've gone and picked up The Boathouse, a supernatural thriller with plenty of sex to keep butts in the seats, hoping to do for this genre what they did for horror in the 90's.

The film centers on a mysterious girl whose new boyfriend learns of her "suspicious" romantic past -- cue ominous music here -- and will be produced by Forthcoming Productions' Ehren Kruger and Daniel Bobker. Kruger, who is excited about the project breaking new ground, said The Boathouse is a "standout horror story, a scary film that explores sexual seduction in a way that the genre rarely braves to do." What? You mean, no gratuitous shower scenes? Attached to direct is Iain Softley (The Skeleton Key), who is currently working on Inkheart. Personally, I've always found sexy and scary to be somewhat of an odd mix for a movie, and rarely is the combo pulled off effectively. What are some of your favorite flicks that are both sexy and scary?

[via ComingSoon.net]

As of July, popular actress Rosario Dawson has been co-writing a comic book series for Image Comics entitled Occult Crimes Taskforce (O.C.T.). The lead character of said comic, a Gotham city detective who finds herself in a crazy group which uses mystical and black arts to fight off ghouls and the like, is clearly modeled after Dawson and has been intended for a movie since Dawson conceived of her.

Enter Dimension Films, who has worked successfully with Dawson in the past. Dimension has acquired movie rights to the property, and have retained Dawson's compatriots David Atchison (co-writer/co-creator) and Tony Shasteen (illustrator) to co-produce the film. It is a sweet life you're living when you can think of a character you enjoy, and then turn her into a comic book and movie property for yourself to star in. I don't generally read Image comics, and I have not encountered O.C.T. during the book's brief run, so I really have no idea what to expect on this one. If there are any fans out there, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

So, it turns out that reports of Grind House's demise were greatly exaggerated. Either that, or Robert Rodriguez and Dimension Films are in complete denial, because they've just officially announced the cast (much of which has already been revealed by glorious internet rumors) for Planet Terror, Rodriguez's segment of the film -- guess he didn't quit, huh? According to Variety, in addition to Rose McGowan and Michael Biehn (both of whom we already knew about), the movie will star Freddy Rodríguez, Josh Brolin, Jeff Fahey, and that great thespian Fergie, from Black Eyed Peas (who knew a roll in an epic bomb would lead to more work?).

Just to review, Rodriguez's film is scary and involves zombies. And that's pretty much all we know -- but hey, who doesn't like zombies? If all goes well and no more directors "quit" or anything, Dimension plans to release Grind House next April, during the long Easter Weekend.