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?

So much for Henry Lee Hopper's acting debut. While Dennis' offspring had signed on for a part in Wes Craven's 25/8 at the end of March, not even a month later, he's unfortunately out. In a really crappy bit of luck, Hopper has been brought down by mononucleosis. Poor dude. With that looming actors strike, Craven can't wait, so The Hollywood Reporter posts that they've got a more recognizable replacement for the would-be actor -- Max Thieriot.

The young actor is definitely doing a decent job finding roles to balance out his family fare gigs. While he's had parts in The Pacifier and The Astronaut Farmer, played Ned Nickerson in Nancy Drew, and has a place in the upcoming Kit Kittredge flick, he's just popped on the big screen in Jumper, has a part in Driving Lessons, and now may meet his death on the big screen. Thieriot will play one of seven fifteen-year-old kids who are haunted by a serial killer who was said to have died on the day they were born.

We've known about Wes Craven's 25/8 -- which will mark the first time he's written and directed a film since 1994's New Nightmare -- for a couple of months now. The horror film will follow seven fifteen-year olds who are haunted by a serial killer who supposedly died on the day they were born. (As Scott pointed out when the project was announced, this sounds a little familiar.) Now, the Hollywood Reporter tells us who'll be playing some of the teenagers: Denzel Whitaker (The Great Debaters), Shareeka Epps (Half Nelson), Emily Meade (the upcoming Assassination of a High School President) and, maybe most interestingly, Henry Lee "Little Dennis" Hopper, making his acting debut.

The Hollywood Reporter article actually has a neat little profile of Dennis Hopper's son, whom Craven met at a party and invited to audition for the film. It makes a point of emphasizing how surprisingly not-screwed-up Henry Lee has turned out to be, despite growing up with one of Hollywood's craziest personalities. The elder Hopper's career is hard to top for sheer weirdness, but a Wes Craven movie is probably a good place to start.

I know, I know, Wes Craven's always got a few projects on the burner, right? But it looks like he's finally settled into the director's chair again -- this time on a Rogue / Universal horror (oh, sorry, thriller) flick called, strangely enough, 25/8, (I assume it's a play on the phrase "24 / 7," as in "That Weinberg dude is watching horror movies 24 / 7" -- or maybe it means August 25 in the UK. I have no idea.

According to Variety, 25/8 represents Mr. Craven's "first original horror script since 1994's New Nightmare," which is a specious way of skipping over the fact that Craven co-wrote last year's Hills Have Eyes 2 AND that atrocious Pulse remake. It will be his first directorial feature since 2005, when he gave us both Red Eye (yay) and Cursed (boo). The source indicates that "the film unveils a signature villain, a serial killer who turns up 15 years after his purported death, to kill the seven children born on that fateful night." Gee, not straying all that far from Elm Street, eh?

For his part, Mr. Craven says "It's more a thriller than slasher film, and revolves around a young kid with a very dark past involving his family and his father." Regarding those remakes, he will be involved with the Last House on the Left re-do, but not so much on Platinum Dunes' Freddy re-fit.

Oh, and in slightly-related horror news, Rogue has found a director for their remake of George Romero's The Crazies: Breck Eisner, who last gave us Sahara.

We've heard a lot of murmurings about a Last House on the Left remake over the last few years, but it looks like the prolific producer Wes Craven has found his director. After handing his Hills remake over to a Frenchman newcomer (and tossing the table-scrap of a sequel to a German guy), Mr. Craven will allow an inexpensive Greek neophyte named Dennis Illiadis to direct the new version of Last House on the Left.

But perhaps Wes Craven has seen something in Mr. Illadis' work (a flick called Hardcore) that fills him with all sorts of confidence. Maybe he's sure this is the guy to re-invent the cult flick's patented brand of unflinching horror and brutal violence. Sure, that could be the case, except that Mr. Craven recently told Fangoria the following: "They are not DGA directors, so we don't have to make the films under DGA guidelines. Productions become more expensive when you have to add on assistant directors, 2nd assistant directors, etc." Well. How very ... pragmatic.

The Rogue (Universal) remake will begin shooting in South Africa in just a few weeks. One can only assume it's cheaper to film a one-location horror movie in South Africa than it is to shoot it in, say, Seattle. On the other hand, perhaps I'm being a whiny little jerk. If it weren't for Wes Craven, we'd have no Hills, no Freddy, and no Scream. (I'm talking about the first Scream, of course.) But as any horror fan can tell you, there's often a BIG difference between movies directed by Wes Craven -- and movies produced (or, ugh, "presented") by Wes Craven.

Sure, it's easy enough to find the up-side of the handsome hunks of horror film. Hunks are easy. They're (mostly) hot, with their nicely whitened teeth and their hair product-styled to perfection, their six-pack abs, their ... sorry, where was I? Oh, right. Hunks versus Slashers. Jeff and Monika have already brought you the hottest hunks and chicks of horror; guess who drew the short straw and had to pick the slashers? (Actually, I volunteered for this one, so I guess that says something freaky about me ... ) My mission: to determine the hottest horror slashers (at least, according to me). These are the bad boys of horror you just can't stop thinking about, the ones who keep popping up in your dreams ... or nightmares. Whether they slash with blades on their fingers, roque mallets, or your basic kitchen knife, these are the boys you don't want to bring home to introduce to the folks over Sunday dinner ... unless you want your family to be the main course.

Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates (Psycho) My mother always told me: Never date a mama's boy. Little Normie's devotion to his mother was sweet, sure, but his methods of showing it left a little to be desired. But you have to admit, there's something about a guy who might stab you through the shower curtain if the mood strikes that guarantees that you'll never be bored while getting ready for your big date night. Anthony Perkins' striking performance as Norman Bates set the bar for horror slashers for decades -- even after all these years, watching Psycho still sends shivers up your spine. (View the trailer for Psycho or go straight to the gallery!)

Doug Bradley as Pinhead (Hellraiser) Sure, all those nails stuck into his skull give new meaning to the word "hammered" -- not to mention making it a little tricksy to coordinate outfits for those hot dates to movie premieres -- but at least, in his own bizarrely twisted way, Pinhead had a sense of fair play. Of course, if you make the wrong choice, your evening is gonna go downhill in a hurry. There's nothing like giant fishhooks pulling your flesh 14 different ways to put a damper on date night. On the plus side, though, you're probably pretty safe being walked home after dinner by a guy who looks like he had a close encounter with a nail gun, on purpose. (View the trailer for Hellraiser ... or go straight to the gallery!)

The Scream franchise is one that's always pissed me off. The first film was dynamite -- a real gem -- but then the second two were bought at Costco and dressed up to slightly resemble the first film, only it wasn't hard to spot the faults. In a minute I'll tell you exactly how I think the franchise should've ended, but first off the news: According to this really weird blog called, quite simply, The Weinstein Company, the boys have officially greenlit Scream 4. It appears as if this is some sort of company blog promoting all things Weinstein, but I still have to warn you to take this with a grain of salt, even if it does come with quotes.

Anyway, here's the so-called official announcement: "The Scream franchise has become a cult classic. Together, all three movies have grossed over $300 million at the box office, just in the United States alone. The fans have been asking for a 4th Scream movie for years and we're finally giving it to them. As far as details go, we're only in the planning stages and we may not get around to it [Scream 4] for quite some time, but rest assured, it will happen." A second quote says there isn't even a script yet, and I very much doubt this will be a pre-strike priority flick, so it's greenlit but we won't see it actually hit theaters for awhile. I know the Weinsteins have been trying to pull a fourth flick together for years, but both Wes Craven and Neve Campbell were never interested. Personally, I don't see why Campbell wouldn't do it -- I mean, what else is she doing (oh wait, she starred in three episodes of Medium ... nevermind). So we'll see.

My friend and I always get all worked up when it comes to the Scream series. Shortly after the third film came out, we talked for hours and practically re-wrote (through our conversation) the entire ending. In our minds, we think Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) should've been the mastermind behind all the killings throughout all three films. This is something that should've been planned in advance (and he survived the first film, so they had time to do it), and it would've been an outcome that made so much more sense. He's the horror geek. He wanted to plan the perfect trilogy. He's the one who should've orchestrated everything -- not some long-lost brother (WTF was up with that plot twist???). Anyway, who knows where they'll go with a fourth film (God bless the screenwriter in charge of trying to come up with a workable story), but I've seen crazier films hit the multiplex.

[via JoBlo]

Manoel de Oliveira's Belle Toujours is back on the charts this week, playing on one lone screen, in Denver, according to my information. Among its other qualities and achievements, it marks the fourth collaboration of director Oliveira and actor Michel Piccoli (a fifth, a short segment in an anthology film, appeared earlier this year). At 81, Piccoli is practically a living legend, having worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Luis Buñuel, Jean-Luc Godard, Jacques Rivette, Louis Malle, Mario Bava, and many other greats. He also appears in Jean-Pierre Melville's 1962 Le Doulos, currently re-released on 2 screens. It's a delicate relationship between director and actor; Piccoli and Oliveira seem to be developing a comfortable working relationship in which each brings out the best in the other. This has happened relatively few times over the past century. When it happens, it can be very exciting, but when a director and an actor don't click, everything can fall to pieces.

Milos Forman has coaxed and guided some great performances over the years, notably Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham in Amadeus and Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon. But he has rarely been praised for directing women, as evidenced by his awkward handling of Natalie Portman in the awful Goya's Ghosts (37 screens). The movie earned advance attention for its nude/sex scene, but will probably be remembered for fitting Portman with a set of humorously bad fake teeth and for her self-consciously dazed walk, newly released from prison, through a chaotic town square. Forman may be to blame, but Portman is out there, on the screen, all alone and in front of everyone.

Now I have a story that I'd like to tell, about this guy you all know -- he had me scared as hell! He comes to me at night after I crawl into bed. He's burnt up like a weenie and his name is... Pauly! ...I can't believe that there's a nightmare on my street! Yeah, I just picked up this story for the chance to recite some Fresh Prince Nightmare on my Street lyrics, but they're also quite fitting. See, TMZ has got their hands on a lawsuit that was filed yesterday in Los Angeles Country Superior Court, one that pits the master of spook, Wes Craven, against the "master" of kook, Pauly Shore.

According to Craven, Shore hasn't been keeping up with his neighborly duties -- he isn't keeping up his yard, or his pool, spa, sprinklers, irrigation, swales, downspouts and slopes. It makes me wonder if he's also got some junker cars up on cinder blocks and waist-high weeds. Anyway, Pauly's carelessness is said to have resulted in water that "intruded and infiltrated" Wes' property, which caused "a slope failure/landslide" in December of last year. But that's not the kicker. Landslides have to suck, but we've all got crappy neighbors that drive us nuts. It seems that this ordeal has had a very bad influence on Wes' head, and the director claims that he "suffered and will continue to suffer severe emotional distress and anxiety." There's something too good to be true about the guy who brought us The Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream claiming emotional distress because someone got lazy with their lawn. Will this become his next scary movie?

Production will begin next year on Last House on the Left, a remake of the 1972 Wes Craven film about some killers who break into the home of the parents of one of their victims. This is one that I'm curious about, only because the very notion that the remake will be as 'realistic' as the original -- a film infamous for its graphic rape and murder scenes -- is completely off the table. The MPAA will laugh in their faces. So what in the world is Wes Craven thinking? Yeah, he's totally behind this, producing the remake with Sean S. Cunningham under his Midnight Pictures label. The remake will be directed by a guy named Dennis Iliadis, who has little to no credits, to my knowledge. It will be written by a guy named Adam Alleca, who has little to no credits, to my knowledge. Was Aja unavailable to shepherd another Craven vehicle into the new millennium? Is he too busy trying to figure out that Piranha remake?

According to Variety, Craven wants the remake to "retain the spirit of the original ... but aim for a more realistic tone." What does that mean? Close-ups of penetration? Money shots? This just doesn't make sense to me on any level. The story also notes that scripter Alleca had previously approached Craven about remaking The People Under the Stairs, which is even more baffling. As for Sean S. Cunningham, I'd be interested in knowing if there's been any movement in the long talked-about plans to remake the first Friday the 13th film. Has anyone heard anything about that? Last time I checked, it was with Michael Bay's company.