Rogue Pictures Tagged Articles at Cinematical

We may not get a superheroine movie any time soon, but after a lot of talk and deal making, Cassandra Hack may finally get her chance to shine and swing away. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Hack / Slash has lost the services of Todd Lincoln, and hired the much buzzed about Fredrik Bond.

Tim Seeley and Stefano Caselli's Hack / Slash is a delight whether you're a horror fiend, a comic book lover, or simply a fan of badass heroines. (Or scantily clad ones. Hey, they have to lure in the boys somehow when it dares to star a woman, right? Yes, I'm being sarcastic.) The ongoing series stars Cassandra "Cassie" Hack, a fearless girl who is every Final Girl combined into one kick-ass, baseball bat swinging chick. Her origin story is the stuff that usually spawns a serial killer, as her mother was tired of seeing her little Cassie bullied, and went on a lunchroom killing spree. (Shades of Crystal Lake!) After surviving that, a missing father, and numerous foster homes, Cassie decides to educate herself in the ways of combat, and take on the unpleasant task of hunting and killing all manner of slashers, monsters, and demons.

Read the rest over at The Horror Squad!

Other than the fact that the heroine looks an awful lot like Megan Fox, I can't say I know all that much about the horror comic Hack/Slash, but it looks like that is about to change. In an interview with Newsarama, Slash screenwriter Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li) decided to share a few details about Todd Lincoln's upcoming feature film version of Tim Seeley's series.

First up is that the film "won't be an origin story, per se, but the origin will be covered." -- which probably means get ready for some rapid fire flashbacks. Marks also went on to say, "we wanted to do something very different, because this is the first chance to see a slasher movie where there is more than one slasher! Because it follows a hunter, you're going with her and her accomplice as they go from one to another, and building out the mythology of how this world works with its undead slashers."

Hack/Slash is the story of Cassie; a girl traumatized at a young age, who becomes a hunter of 'Slashers' (better known as Revenants). Along with her partner Vlad, the two are responsible for keeping the world safe from the undead menace. News of a feature film version first hit back in 2006, and other than a few rumblings that Fox was on the short-list for the lead, there hasn't been much to report. Luckily for fans of the gory comic, Marks is committed to making an R-rated film, and told Newsarama, "It was written with that mentality in mind, yes".

Well, maybe if Fox does sign on as Cassie, an R rating could guarantee that fan boys finally get that glimpse of skin they've been promised. Hack/Slash is expected to arrive in theaters in 2009.

[Thanks: Coming Soon]

Much like the characters in the best-selling game, Castlevania is the movie that will not die. So far the film has undergone personnel changes and became one of the many causalities of the writers strike; but you can't keep a so-so idea down, and it looks like the project is up and running again. Talk of the film has surfaced again now that a script review for Paul W.S. Anderson's screenplay has appeared over at CC2K -- But I should warn you, it's not looking good.

Early previews on Kotaku, described the script as the story of an, "adult Trevor Belmont who, with his fellow "battle-hardened" brother Christopher, is ordered by his king-through man of god Lucius-to dispatch you-know-who." But, according to CC2K's tipster, the latest incarnation of the story is more of a rip-off of Bram Stoker's Dracula with very few similarities to the Belmonts that fans know and love.

Originally, Anderson was going to direct as well as handle the script, but as we all know, he later dropped the project to work on Death Race. Enter Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) to take over directing duties, and who is still committed to the project despite the lack of a solid start date.

Having never played the games, I can't say I'm all that worried about the changes Anderson has potentially made to the Castlevania 'canon'. But I know that fans probably feel a little differently; so get it all off your chest, believe me, you'll feel better.

[Thanks: Ain't It Cool News]

I had almost completely forgotten about Liv Tyler's horror flick The Strangers, until the new trailer popped up on the net (there's a larger version on the official site). Last August, an R-rated trailer was released, but by then, the initial release date had been scrapped with only the vague promise that the film would be in theaters some time in '08. The movie is now scheduled to hit theaters this May, so it will be almost one full year late to the party.

The Strangers centers on a young couple who are inexplicably targeted by masked psycho-killers for a night of terror. It looks like it's going to be your usual fight to the death as the couple try to make it out alive. The Strangers was written and directed by Bryan Bertino, a first time writer and director. Joining Tyler is Scott Speedman (Underworld) as Liv's better half, and Gemma Ward as one of the masked maniacs.

After watching the trailer, I think that it still manages to deliver some chills, and it doesn't give away too much. It's funny if you think about the fact that no sooner did the film manage to avoid comparisons to last year's Vacancy, audiences will probably be comparing it to Funny Games. It does look awfully similar. I guess we'll find out if The Strangers was worth the wait when the film finally hits theaters on May 30th.

[via Ace Showbiz]

So it looks like it's not just the big productions that are now DOA thanks to the writer's strike; it's hitting some of the 'the little guys' too. Variety reports the next two features that have been put on hold are the big-screen adaptations of Castlevania and the period action flick, Ironbow: The Legend of William Tell.

First up was Castlevania, which had been struggling to make it to production. This might not be the worst thing in the world when you consider the script problems the film was having in the first place; it was probably in serious need of some tweaking. Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) had been signed to direct and the film was due to start shooting in South Africa this April. Rogue Pictures had hoped that Castlevania would have been the start of a new franchise for the studio. Rather than waste the $40 million budget, Rogue decided to focus on some of their other projects that were slotted for 2008 that were ready for production. Instead, Rogue is going to work on the remakes of Near Dark and The Last House on The Left.

Hopefully Spyglass, who was behind the action adventure story Ironbow: The Legend of William Tell, also has another project ready to occupy these long lazy strike days. Ironbow was written by Count of Monte Cristo scribe, Jay Wolpert. Director Kevin Reynolds (Tristan and Isolde) had just been signed and the film was ready to begin casting. But, the need for some re-writes to the story of the 15th-century Swiss crossbow legend William Tell who returns home to lead his people to independence (and maybe some fruit target practice) has put the film on hold for now. Well, at least these two films are in good company as 'victims' of the strike, along with Angels and Demons, Shantaram and Pinkville. So if the strike doesn't end soon, I have a feeling we are going to be seeing a lot more of these kinds of announcements in the near future.

OK, so this wouldn't be the first time that fans of Megan Fox were duped into thinking the Transformers babe had landed her next high-profile role. I mean, we all saw how that Half to Death deal turned out. Creature Corner is reporting that sources are confirming Fox was "incredibly interested" in the lead for the big-screen version of the graphic novel Hack/Slash. The comic was originally published back in 2004 for Devil's Due Productions and centered on a 'slasher' hunter named Cassie on a mission to rid the world of evil with her trusty partner Vlad. The casting rumor has been around for a while now, but it seems talk of Fox's involvement with the film just won't die (and even though I have never read the comic, just from the few stills I've seen so far, I have to say that Fox is a dead ringer for the lead). Since news of Fox's involvement has hit the official MySpace page for the comic, I wouldn't be surprised if we get some kind of answer from the production in the near future.

Hack/Slash was picked up by Rogue Pictures back in December. Here we are almost one year later, and there hasn't been a peep out of the production until now. When word of the project first emerged, director Todd Lincoln told Movieweb the film was going to have "a sprinkling of humor to balance the scares, but this will be a lean, vicious, blood-soaked, Hard-R fright fest. The goal is to create the ultimate slasher film." Fox has already proven that she can hold her own with giant f**king robots, and the promise of her in some of those outfits is probably enough to pack theaters night after night -- at least with adolescent boys. Until we hear something official, though, you guys will just have to rely on your imagination.

Since most people expect don't expect much from video game flicks, it can't come as much as a surprise that the big screen version of Castlevania has already been sent back to the drawing board. Back in 2005, Paul W.S. Anderson had signed on to write and direct, and up until January 2007 he was still committed to the project; promising a spring start date for production. But the lure of Anderson's next project, Death Race, must have been strong, since he dropped Castlevania to work on it full time.

Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Rogue Pictures has hired Ian Jeffers to completely re-work the script and Sylvain White to helm the flick. White was the director behind the straight-to-video horror I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, and the teen dance flick Stomp The Yard. Jeffers is relative newcomer, and Death Sentence was his screen writing debut.

For those not familiar with the best-selling Konami game series, Castlevania focused on The Belmonts, a family sworn to protect the human race from Dracula. The game has evolved over the years, but the producer for the film, Jeremy Bolt, told IGN back in June that the film has "a fair amount of references. We always try to give the fans something that respects their love of the game but also give them something completely new. So we've added a whole new spin to Castlevania". According to Bloody Disgusting, the addition of Jeffers means that Anderson's original script for the project has probably been scrapped -- which might come as a relief to die-hard fans out there. Castlevania is set for release in late 2008.

Just a few weeks ago, Christopher Campbell gave us the heads up on the brand new poster for Liv Tyler's new horror flick, The Strangers. Now, Shock Till You Drop is hosting an exclusive yellow-band trailer for the film. Written and directed by Bryan Bertino, Strangers stars Scott Speedman and Tyler as a couple terrorized by a murderous trio. The young couple tries to fend off a group of masked murders who inexplicably targeted them at their remote country home. As Scott Weinberg has already pointed out, the similarities to another "couple in peril" horror film are unmistakable.

This is Bertino's debut film and was supposedly based on true events -- about that, Bertino has never really gotten around to explaining what those events were. Chris Ullrich had the chance to see some clips from the film at a Rogue Pictures panel at ComicCon last month. By the sounds of what Chris described, it looks like some of that footage has made it into this online trailer. Luckily, Bertino keeps to quick cuts of the action, so there really isn't that much revealed ... although there definitely are a few creepy shots in the bunch.

The Strangers was originally slated to open July 13, but was postponed. So far, we've seen no mention of a new release date -- unless you count the vague promise of 'Coming Soon' on the one-sheet. After all the photo releases lately, it looks like Rogue could be serious about finally releasing the film in early 2008, as reported in Shock Till You Drop's interview with Bertino.

Though there aren't any plans yet for a direct-to-DVD sequel to Vacancy, this new flick The Strangers might have to go that route if it has any chance of survival. With a weaker cast and a not-so-tantalizing plot, The Strangers is supposed to hit theaters on July 13. But, as Bloody Disgusting points out, that date might be pushed back due to Vacancy's poor box office turn-out. That said, a still from the pic featuring Liv Tyler trying to escape from some chick in a mask has just hit the net. And, from the look of it, she ain't getting very far. (That can happen when, instead of running, you attempt to crawl your way to freedom.)

In the pic, Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman star as a couple who, in an attempt to spend some quiet time at their vacation home, find themselves terrorized by three masked strangers. And no, unfortunately these aren't a group of kids enjoying a game of ring-and-run. We're not exactly sure why they're after this poor couple (for all we know they could be members of a band looking to open up for Aerosmith), but I've come to realize that when the bad guys wear spooky masks, they don't need an agenda. Those masks alone are enough to tell us they mean business. Bryan Bertino makes his directorial debut (off his own script), with Rogue Pictures currently trying to come up with a way to market this thing so that people don't immediately think Vacancy rip-off. Personally, I'm always down for a gut-wrenching, "who's that stranger in the window"-type flick, and so while everyone and their mother is off watching Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix on July 13, I'll gladly throw my gal Liv some love.

Perhaps it's fitting that Rogue Pictures (specialty division for Universal) would pick up a treatment called Lottery Ticket, seeing as New York is preparing itself today for a Mega Millions lottery drawing worth $370 million -- its largest to date. Of course, yours truly forgot to pick up his Mega Millions ticket; thus, you can expect to see me showing up for work tomorrow as per usual. Abdul Williams (whose Welfare Queen is being produced by Queen Latifah as a starring vehicle for the actress) wrote the treatment and will also pen the script, while music video director Erik White will helm and Evolution's Oren Koules and Mark Berg produce; Evolution originally packaged the project for Rogue.

Described as an urban comedy, Lottery Ticket revolves around an 18 year-old kid living in the projects who, upon snagging a winning lottery ticket, must keep it a secret over a three day weekend. Williams feels the film is almost like Lord of the Rings in that "you have something so valuable you can't let it off your person, but in a way it's almost a burden." It sounds like a fun story, especially if they set it during a time when the jackpot is so massive that it's all anyone can talk about. Imagine having a ticket like that in your possession; who do you tell first -- who can you trust? Seems like an awful amount of pressure for some young kid, though it's the kind of pressure I'm sure we all wouldn't mind dealing with.