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pascal laugier Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Nobody Wants to Remake 'Hellraiser'

Filed under: Horror », Casting », Remakes and Sequels »

If I were a more superstitious person, I would start to think that Dimension's Hellraiser remake is cursed. It has been a long time since Clive Barker first signed on to help re-write his original story for the screen ... again, but here we are three years later and not a day closer to a finished product. The last anyone had heard was that Pascal Laugier (Martyrs) had signed up to direct. But, thanks to an update from Barker's Twitter feed, we now know that "Pascal Laugier is regrettably no longer on the Hellraiser remake. I think Martyrs is extraordinary, I don't know much more. I mean why would anyone tell me? I mostly discover these things here or through friends who still buy the trades."

The horror-remake has had a revolving door cast for a couple of years now, and Laugier isn't the first director to walk. Originally, the French directors Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside / A l'interieur) were supposed to be shooting Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton's script, but Bustillo and Maury soon left the film thanks to "creative differences." Laugier was supposed to be their replacement, and we might be back to square one now that rumors are swirling that Dimension has plans to commission an entirely new script as well.

After the jump: so, will Hellraiser ever get made? Plus some of my fantasy picks for a new director.

Want to Score a Free Score or Two?

Filed under: Foreign Language », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Magnolia », The Weinstein Co. », Fantastic Fest »

They claim that Seppuku Paradigm did the score for the harsh-as-hell horror flick, Martyrs (now on DVD -- beware the Blockbuster cut!), but I don't remember hearing any music... just Scott Weinberg screaming and squealing and squirming about when we saw it at Fantastic Fest last year. It was pretty much like watching The Love Guru with him all over again.

Well, those handy-dandy fellas over at Twitch say that the film's composers, Alex and Willie Cortés, have made their score for the film freely available online. In fact, their only other score -- for the unseen-by-me sci-fi mystery Eden Log -- has ALSO been made available to all. It's a veritable festivus for soundtrack junkies!

And why? Hell if I can tell, though tempted as one may be to throw around the phrase 'economic generosity' these days, I won't. Maybe these are just two cool guys who made two cool scores that they'd rather have people to listen to than pay for. It's a downright hippie stance, if you ask me, but we'll let it slide this time -- but only because, y'know, it has something to do with movies.

New Films: Thrilling 'Details' and '31 Days' of Romance

Filed under: Comedy », Romance », Thrillers », Deals », Scripts »

There's nothing quite like a father incensed with possible harm to his kid and fighting the odds to find and save her. But it's familiar. We've been there, and seen that. So, what would that be like with a French director who freaked out film festival audiences with Martyrs? The Hollywood Reporter posts that Pascal Laugier has been tapped to write and direct a new supernatural thriller called Details. Based on a short story by China Mieville, the film follows a dad obsessed with finding his missing daughter. However, this isn't a simple case of kidnapping -- she disappears after "stirring up dark forces." But if you want something more familiar, the man is also bringing us the Hellraiser remake.

In other news...

Are you ready? Hollywood is bringing us a romcom that will strap us in seats for a full month of romantic comedy! Okay, not quite, but The Hollywood Reporter does say that Lionsgate has picked up a spec by new writer Corinne Kingsbury called 31 Days of Larry. So far, we've got one lone word to describe it: "irreverent." Let's hope that doesn't mean a romcom starring Kevin James, as he's romanced by Adam Sandler. I'm a bit tarnished on the whole "Larry" on the big screen thing. (Not James, just anything that reminds me of that film.)

AFM: Weinsteins Pick Up 'Dorothy Mills,' 'Dante 01,' 'Martyrs'

Filed under: Drama », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Mystery & Suspense », Distribution », The Weinstein Co. », Cinematical Indie »

What did you do on Saturday night? The Weinstein Co. was busy, closing three deals at the American Film Market (AFM), according to ScreenDaily.com. They picked up US distribution rights to films represented by French company Wild Bunch.
  • Dante 01 represents the solo directing debut of Marc Caro, who previously made Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children with Jean-Pierre Jeunet. The film is set in a "space prison," where dangerous criminals become unwilling participants in medical experiments. The prisoners begin resisting; the arrival of a mysterious convict brings everything to a head. It's due for release in France on January 2, 2008.
  • Martyrs is a horror flick from writer/director Pascal Laugier. It starts in the 1970s with the discovery of Lucie, a young girl who'd gone missing the year before and has no memory of what happened. Hospitalized, she suffers from nightmares of torture, but slowly recuperates with the help of another young patient. Fifteen years pass and she turns up at a house in a forest with shotgun in hand. (Cineuropa has the details.)
No word yet on whether the Weinsteins plan theatrical releases, though Dorothy Mills is the most likely to get one. AFM continues through November 7 in lovely, seaside Santa Monica, California.
 
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