Producer Scott Faye is keeping the faith -- but fans of the Electronic Arts video game American McGee's Alice will have to wait an indeterminate amount of time to see a movie version. According to McGee's own blog (and thanks to Shock for the tip), Mr. Faye has announced that Universal has placed the project into turnaround -- which essentially means it's comatose until another backer snags the property. (IF another backer snags the property.)

Here's what the producer had to say: "Jon and Erich Hoeber have written a very compelling feature film screenplay adaptation of the Alice game. Their screenplay will certainly serve as a jumping off point as we find a new studio home for the project. In terms of the realistic chances of seeing the Alice project being produced, all I can say is that I have invested (along with Julie Yorn and Karen Lauder, my producing partners on the project) a lot of time and effort in this project. We will get it made." Just not at Universal, unfortunately. Earlier reports indicated that actress Sarah Michelle Gellar and director Marcus Nispel were attached to the project, but as Inspector Clouseau used to say "Notennymore."

For those who are unfamiliar with American McGee's Alice (I really should play this game already), it's sort of a dark semi-sequel to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (or Alice in Wonderland, if you prefer). Filmmakers previously (and temporarily?) attached to the project include director Wes Craven, screenwriter John August, and actress Jean Marsh. (Thanks to Wiki for the reminders.) So to those who've played (and hopefully enjoyed) this video game, here's my question: Who should direct the thing?

Just when we thought we knew who would be battling Jason Voorhees, along comes a new female foe for the hockey-masked serial killer. Recently we reported that Amanda Righetti was in "final negotations" to star in the new version of Friday the 13th, to be directed by Marcus Nispel. Well, something went awry in those negotiations, because The Hollywood Reporter now says that Danielle Panabaker has been cast as the female lead.

Your first reaction might be, "Who is Danielle Panabaker?" (OK, that's what I said.) She's been appearing on the TV show Shark opposite James Woods and has also been featured in several movies that I haven't seen (Mr. Brooks, Yours, Mine and Ours, Sky High). Have you seen her? Does she have the right stuff to go toe to toe with Jason?

Jared Padalecki is still set to play a leading role as someone who investigates the murderous activities at Crystal Lake. THR adds that Jonathan Sadowski, Travis van Winkle and Aaron Yoo have also been cast, and notes that Panabaker "is playing the adventurous, athletic girlfriend of van Winkle, who plays a rich alpha male type that gathers everyone together. Yoo, who was Shia's buddy in Disturbia and is one of the college card sharks in 21, will play a "quirky" guy. Sadowski plays "a techie who knows the horrific history of Camp Crystal Lake," which means, I guess, that's he's seen the other movies? Filming is scheduled to start very soon in Austin, Texas.

For every beast you need a beauty, right? We just heard from Scott Weinberg that the very cool "giant guy" Derek Mears has been cast as Jason Voorhees in the upcoming new version of Friday the 13th. Before that, Jared Padalecki was selected to play a leading role as someone who investigates the murderous activities at Crystal Lake. But to really jump start the franchise, the movie badly needs a hot chick talented actress to amp up the action. Will Amanda Righetti fit the bill?

Variety is reporting that Righetti is in "final negotiations" to play the female lead. Will she play the "final girl"? That would fit the pattern of the female leads in the other Friday the 13th movies. She could join a small, illustrious list that includes Adrienne King, Amy Steel, Dana Kimmell, Kimberly Beck, etc. Righetti has been steadily building her career, mostly in glossy TV shows (The O.C., North Shore). She has the good looks and steely thesping ability that "final girl" requires. To see more of Righetti, in more ways than one, check out the awesome cheese that is Angel Blade.

Production company Platinum Dunes has signed Marcus Nispel to direct, and I join Scott W. in his minority opinion regarding Nispel's work on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake -- that flick freaked me out for reasons I don't really want to explore too deeply. Filming on Friday the 13th begins on April 21 in Austin, Texas.

After doing a surprisingly good job on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake -- and then taking five steps back with the misguided Pathfinder -- it looks like Marcus Nispel has been signed to direct the Friday the 13th remake for Platinum Dunes, Paramount, and New Line Warner Bros. Not only that, but actor Jared Padalecki has been signed for a lead role. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "the remake will focus on the serial killer, who will wear his now-iconic hockey mask. Padalecki will play the lead, who investigates what happened up at Crystal Lake."

Seems like a strange direction for a "remake" to take, but obviously I'm more than happy to see the flick before I get all excited or all furious. We'll be waiting until February 13 of next year (yes, it's a Friday) to see what Nispel and screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon have in store for us. More casting news as it comes in -- and if the Dunes guys opt to go PG-13 on this project, I may just lose my mind.

Before I get started, I should probably warn you: I have a big soft-spot for Sarah Michelle Gellar. I'm a huge Buffy the Vampire Slayer nerd; I've even started buying the comics for season eight, for goodness sake. So I am a little predisposed to defend her choices -- and let me tell you, it hasn't always been easy. In an interview with RadioFree.com Gellar confirmed that she is still in the lead role for the big screen version of American McGee's Alice. Gellar told RadioFree, "unfortunately, it was the victim of regime change in the studio. And I'm not getting out. And contrary to what you may have read, it's still my project."

The film will be based on Rogue Entertainment's third-person shooter set in the world of Alice in Wonderland. The story centers on a pretty twisted incarnation of Alice -- her parents are killed in a fire, and after slipping into a catatonic state, she is institutionalized. "Years later, the White Rabbit summons Alice to aid a radically altered Wonderland, now under the despotic rule of the Queen of Hearts" (played by Jean Marsh). Marcus Nispel is attached to direct -- he is also at the helm for the Friday the 13th update slated for 2009. The Alice script has undergone a few re-writes over the years, but it looks like the final version is going to be the one written by Jon and Erich Hoeber (Whiteout).

Back in December, rumors began to surface that Maggie Grace (LOST) had taken over the role, but it would seem that maybe the gossips confused it with Grace's other project with Gellar, The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing. Alice has been kicking around since 2000, back when Wes Craven was attached, and hopefully this time around, Nispel and company will be able to make it into a reality. But fans need not worry; Gellar tells RadioFree: "...I'm not giving up. Because I believe there is such a beautiful, crazy, cool, twisted story to be told there. [jokes] And if I have to get down and write it myself one of these day [sic], I may have to..."

[via ComingSoon.net]

Depending on your point of view, this is either very good or very bad news. Shock Til You Drop is reporting that the much-discussed Friday the 13th update will not be a remake of the classic 1980 flick. According to sources, writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason) will not be re-writing the original story. Going one step further, Shock reports that the flick would not be an origin story of any kind. Instead, Shock reports that the film will take place, "somewhere between parts two and four". As any horror fan knows, the story of Jason Voorhees and his reign of terror at Camp Crystal Lake is one of the cornerstones of 80's horror, and the thought of a remake had plenty of fans all up in arms. Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Marcus Nispel hopped onboard a few weeks ago to direct.

Just last week Scott had reported that there were still some details to iron out with the script; mainly how they were going to work around the fact that Jason did not really appear in the films until Part 2. As we all know, it was good old Mommy dearest doing the dispatching in the first film. If Shock's sources can be trusted then this means Nispel won't have to worry about how to work in the big daddy of slashers and his trusty goalie mask and they can just start fresh. Stay tuned for any official word on whether or not we will be seeing a "stronger, faster, better" Jason headed our way. Friday the 13th is set for release February 13, 2009.

A few days back when Monika shared the news that Marcus Nispel had signed on for Platinum Dunes' Friday the 13th remake, she was met by one wise-ass commenter who actually made a good point: How can the remake have Jason as the hockey-masked killer -- if Jason didn't start slashing until Part 2 and didn't locate a hockey mask until the third act of Part 3? (Such are the things that ravenous horror nerds worry about.)

Luckily we have a semi-spoilery little report from Devin at CHUD.com, and let's just say that screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon are not exactly looking to re-invent the wheel. Which is good news for me, because it's the formulaic simplicity of the original Friday the 13th that I dig so much. (Yes, I really believe the original is a damn fine horror film. Cheap, choppy and all but completely plagiarized, but still grim, atmospheric and graphically effective.) Swift and Shannon also provided the screenplay for Freddy vs. Jason, but I'm hoping this new project is a little darker (and quite a bit more ... decipherable) than FvJ was.

Anyway, rest assured that I'll be watching this project with both eyeballs. And since they're planning to shoot in Austin early next year, hell, maybe I'll even get to visit the set. Click right here for Devin's notes from a discussion with the Platinum Dunes partners, and then click right here for some (also semi-spoilery) character descriptions at Bloody-Disgusting.com. But really, who's worried about spoilers at this point? It's not like you haven't seen Friday the 13th at least four times. (Special note to the Dunesmen: Good job on giving Nispel the job. I may be in the minority, but I really dug his take on Leatherface. Looking forward to his interpretation of ol' Jason, which will hit theaters on February 13, 2009. Yes, that's a Friday.)

Special note to me fellow Friday freaks: I was overseas recently and I picked up this very awesome Friday the 13th book AND the unrated Warner Bros. Region 2 DVD that has the nine extra seconds of gore! Whoo!

Ah, Friday the 13th... One of these days, I'm really going to have to watch it again, but for a while, it was vehemently banned from my house. You see, at the ripe old age of 5 or 6, I had a friend with an older brother and sister who liked it, so every time I went over there, we'd sneak and watch that, as well as the other flicks we weren't supposed to (Squeeze Play). Not surprisingly, I'd come home and have crazy nightmares. However, I better get on reorienting myself with the original soon, because as you might remember, it' s getting a remake.

Instead of adding to the neverending franchise, writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift have penned the redo, and The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Marcus Nispel is in final negotiations to direct it. (It looks like Jonathan Liebesman has gone bye-bye!) After directing music videos for the super-varied group of artists like Faith No More, Amy Grant, Billy Joel, and Bone Thugs n Harmony, he turned to television and film. There was a TV version of Frankenstein, and then he helmed Pathfinder, the weird viking/Native American action thriller. Oh yeah, he also helmed that little remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which you might remember.

The plan is to start the film this winter, so it looks like he's going to tackle Jason before going to work on Sarah Michelle Gellar's action thriller Alice. This also means that we should get casting news really soon. Now, this isn't some plain-Jane remake, but a redo. THR says: "While Jason made only a brief appearance in the final frames of the first movie in 1980, and didn't even don his famous mask until the third movie, the new movie will focus on Jason -- who will wear the mask and kill -- and keep the famous setting of Crystal Lake." I wonder if this will confuse future horror fans who then go back and watch Scream...

Finally, no post like this is complete without input from resident horror expert, Scott Weinberg: "Good lord, would Nispel be a large improvement over Liebesman. Sure, Pathfinder kinda stunk, but if we can get a Friday the 13th remake that's as bleak and ferocious and Nispel's TCM re-do, then that'll be good enough for me."

Presented in what feels like eleven different shades of gray, Marcus Nispel's Pathfinder is a character study with no character, an adventure movie with very little adventure, and an action flick with alarmingly infrequent action scenes. Other than that, the thing's a bona-fide hoot for 96 straight minutes. Shallow, callow and mindless to a fault, the movie makes Zack Snyder's 300 feel like a model of restraint and cohesion. Keep in mind that I'm a guy who's always had a soft spot for big, dumb, period-piece action flicks -- but Pathfinder is just way too generic, way too obvious and way too stone-faced serious to warrant any enthusiasm.

Worst of all is the fact that Pathfinder contains just enough quality material to make you angry there's not more of it. But basically it's just another story about a noble warrior who wreaks holy mayhem after his village is ransacked by brutal villains. If you're a big fan of the "angry hero / ransacked village / revenge duly wreaked" movies, then you might find Pathfinder to be passable diversion on a rainy Saturday afternoon -- but the flick's about as funny by accident as it is grungy on purpose. While some of the film is visually captivating and (intermittently) exciting, it suffers mightily because of clumsy direction, over-caffeinated editing, and an overall pace that could be best described as ... convulsive.

German filmmaker Marcus Nispel became acquainted with the horror freaks when he directed the surprisingly solid Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake a few years back. Since then he's been working on his "Vikings vs. Native Americans" epic Pathfinder, which has had more release dates than Mike Tyson. But according to those wonderful monsters over at Fangoria, we now have the scoop on Mr. Nispel's next three projects.

1. An adaptation of American McGee's cult classic video game Alice for Universal, which we're told will star Sarah Michelle Gellar in the title role.

2. A subterranean monster movie called Sublevel -- which sounds completely up my alley.

3. Most intriguing of all would be the second collaboration between Nispel and Texas screenwriter Scott Kosar: a Charles Manson movie. Yes, there have been several (including the one everybody's seen: the very well-regarded 1976 TV movie Helter Skelter), but this director seems to have a firm approach to the story: "Almost all of those films are told from a legal point of view, or what you'd hear in a trial. So the thing you have to do is look at it from an emotional angle: Whose eyes are we seeing this through who is not a cop or a judge? Scott found a very interesting point of view from an insider. Personally, I've always been partial to an approach similar to Paul Schrader's Hardcore."

So now let the speculation begin: Whom would you cast as Charles Manson? I'm no casting director, but for some reason Billy Crudup just popped into my head. I'll stick with that pick.