bubba nosferatu Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oh, Paul Giamatti. He's the man you can't help but love and respect. He's got acting chops on all sides of the fence, being able to play it straight and serious just as much as over-the-top ridiculous and campy -- in other words, the perfect combination. Giamatti has come a long way since he popped up as Kissing Man in Singles, and these days, he's the kind of actor who might even lead you to movies you would not have otherwise considered. But now the man needs to get a little more selective.

For ages, he's been attached to Bubba Nosferatu, a project that got immensely worrisome when Bruce Campbell exited over the screenplay (only to get Ron Perlman). It might seem like a project going nowhere, but according to the new Elvis, the film will finally play out during Perlman's Sons of Anarchy hiatus. And Giamatti is still on-board. Strike one: Sticking with this project post-Campbell when the original barely made it to the screen and the film's fans don't want Bubba without Bruce.

If you haven't seen Bubba Ho-Tep, then stop reading this post immediately and go to your movie renting outlet of choice. If you have (and I imagine everyone on Cinematical has) then you may continue.

There has been talk of a sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep for I don't know how long. I would venture to say that we were all pretty favorable to the idea, because more Bruce Campbell is always a good thing. But then came word that Campbell wouldn't be reprising his role as Elvis Presely in Bubba Nosferatu ... and well, who wants that?

Everyone associated with Bubba Nosferatu, apparently. Last year, director Don Coscarelli said he would replace Campbell with someone equally lovable. Word has it, according to an interview Ain't It Cool News held with Paul Giamatti, that the new Elvis is none other than Ron Perlman. Says Giamatti: "Our thinking was kind of like, "Well who the hell do we find who is a really good actor and a guy who is going to fit right?" You know what I mean? It was sort of like, for a while we let the thing sit and then all of a sudden we were like 'Well, maybe we should go to Ron Perlman,' which just seemed like a great idea and he was up for it." The plan is to start shooting Bubba Nosferatu in the spring, with Giamatti still attached as Col. Parker.

Call me a Debbie Downer, but my interest in Bubba Nosferatu died when Campbell dropped out. It kills me to say it, because the plot sounds terrific and I'd love to see Giamatti as Col. Parker. But I can't see Perlman, talented as he is, as this particular Elvis. It might just be me, though, and everyone else will be happy enough to see Elvis ride again.

There's been trouble in Bubba paradise for a while now. In June, Bruce Campbell knew nothing about the Bubba Ho-Tep sequel, Bubba Nosferatu. A few days ago, Paul Giamatti said that ol' Elvis was "waffling" on the idea. Now, it's time to put Bubba Campbell dreams to bed, because Bruce has out and out said he won't be involved. The actor recently appeared on Fangoria Radio, and said: "[Bubba Nosferatu] is dead to me. It sleeps with the fishes. Don Coscarelli is a very passionate filmmaker. We got to a few points [developing the screenplay] that we couldn't reconcile. I want to keep our friendship, so we parted ways. So, I'm not part of that project."

One would imagine that no Bruce would mean the end of things, but the director told Fangoria that he might recast the movie with someone else the fans would embrace, but recognizes the challenge in that. First, I don't think there is anyone who could make the fans not miss Campbell in the sequins. They could come up with an entirely different character and use the same theme, but what Bubba fan will be cool with a replacement Elvis? Second, what on earth is in that script that threatened Campbell's relationship with Coscarelli and made Ash walk? If he's that unhappy with the filmmakers vision, would we be any happier?

In case you were looking for more fan dreams to be quashed -- he's also kiboshed the other sequels right now. There will be no Freddy-Jason-Ash mashup: "It blows! You really think Ash would be allowed to kill Freddy and Jason off?" There will be no fourth Evil Dead for now: "Raimi still talks about it, but he's in no rush to do it with everything else he has going on. Sam jokes: 'Maybe we can do another Evil Dead when we're 70.'" And finally, no Evil Dead remake: "The feedback from the fans was 90 percent negative. It's going nowhere. The remake has fizzled fast at Sam's company." So, there you have it. Any new Campbell that you see for the time being will have to be via Burn Notice.

At one of my very first film festivals I got to meet Don Coscarelli, the man who directed Survival Quest, The Beastmaster and all four of the freakishly weird Phantasm flicks. Since I grew up wonderfully mortified by the original Phantasm, it was obviously a big thrill to shake the guy's hand. And then we sat down for his latest creation, Bubba Ho-tep, and the night got even loopier.

Well-admired by just about every genre freak who sees it, Bubba Ho-tep is about the ways in which Elvis Presley (Bruce Campbell) and JFK (Ossie Davis) go about ridding an old age home of a horrible soul-sucking mummy. Based on a story by Joe Lansdale, Bubba Ho-tep is, at the very least, a fairly original tale. And yes, I said Bruce Campbell as Elvis and Ossie Davis as JFK.

So you can probably see where I'm headed with this: According to the BD.com horror loons (and to follow up on our previous story), Bruce Campbell had to cancel on an upcoming convention appearance because he'd be too busy shooting Bubba Ho-tep 2, aka Bubba Nosferatu: Curse of the She-Vampires. Sounds good to me, especially considering the beloved Mr. Campbell's more recent cinematic output. Ahem.