richard matheson Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'The Box' Moves Up from Thanksgiving to Halloween
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Warner Brothers », RumorMonger »
Tempted though I may be to do so, I won't take credit for Warners' moving up the release of Richard Kelly's hopefully good The Box after I blathered on about it for too long and then some last month. According to BOM, the thriller is now scheduled to open on October 30th and just opposite Saw VI -- and between us, if it was between either the fifth Saw sequel or a title with both Richard Kelly and Richard Matheson's names on it, my moviegoing dollar would surely find its way to the latter.Going instead into the newly vacated 11/25 slot is the Wachowski-produced Ninja Assassin, helmed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta, the third act of The Invasion) and starring that guy Stephen Colbert hates so much. Not much has come of that film beyond a "we're making it!" press conference -- no trailer, no poster, no nuthin' -- but the film has been formally rated R for "strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language," which suggests that the film is completed.
And when you have a completed film on your hands, you generally release it. (And then this'll be the part where the "More You Know" star will shoot overhead...)
Richard Kelly's Thriller 'The Box' Delayed (Again)
Filed under: Drama », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Warner Brothers », RumorMonger »
Oy vey: after shifting more dates than an old lady working in the produce section, it appears that Richard Kelly's thriller The Box has been bumped once more, from next March to next November. Usually, this would be a bad thing, but I'm still seriously intrigued by this adaptation of Richard Matheson's short story, in which a young couple (James Marsden and Cameron Diaz) are given a mysterious box that can make them wealthy, but at the cost of killing a stranger the moment they use it.The film is completed enough to merit a PG-13 from our pals over at the MPAA (for "thematic elements, some violence and disturbing images"), so it's not post-production woes holding the film up. One suspects this is a much less sprawling film than his Southland Tales, which we'll come back to soon enough. Is it part of WB's strategy to spread out product as the strike catches up to them, as they had by moving Harry Potter from this week to next summer?
Man, if I could just kill a stranger to get some answers...
'Wanted' Scribes Take On 'All Creatures Great and Small'
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Deals », Sony », Scripts »
Just so we are clear, the new script by Wanted writers, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, will have nothing to do with James Harriot's novel, All Creatures Great and Small -- although it does make a little confusing since they have the same title. The Hollywood Reporter announced that the duo have signed to complete a script for Sony and Original Films producer, Neil Moritz. According to Brandt, he and Haas came up with the idea after securing a blind deal with Sony, and Creatures was the first project they wanted to pitch to the studio. Creatures centers on a future where humans are vastly outnumbered by animals. Brandt describes a pretty bleak future for us bipeds in the script: "... where people are literally living in forts, and the animals are running free."
Nick Wechsler Fuels Joe Hill and Stephen King's 'Throttle'
Filed under: Action », Horror », Thrillers », Deals », Newsstand »
Is there a Joe Hill story that isn't optioned right now? I think even the ones unfinished on his laptop are optioned. Combine his name with that of his famous father, Stephen King, and it probably doesn't even have to have more than an opening sentence.
According to Variety, Throttle, the novella Hill co-authored with King, has been optioned by Nick Wechsler. It won't be published until 2009, in an anthology titled He Is Legend that will be dedicated to Richard Matheson. The story follows a father and son, members of a motorcycle gang, who are being chased by an 18-wheeler tanker truck.
Author Sells 'I Am Legend' Sequel Rights to WB
Filed under: Action », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Warner Brothers », Remakes and Sequels »
It's still way too early to call it a done deal, but given the small nugget of news we just got from STYD.com, it sure looks like WB wants to make a sequel to I Am Legend. (And given the flick's massive box office numbers, that should come as no surprise whatsoever.)No, there's nothing official just yet: No casting calls or press releases ... yet. But we do know that author Richard Matheson recently sold the sequel rights over to the studio ... which means that someone at Warner Bros. is getting the ball rolling NOW. (And good for Richard Matheson, earning an easy paycheck like that!!) As Shock so accurately points out, this would make the first cinematic follow-up to the oft-lensed source material. (Neither The Last Man on Earth nor The Omega Man earned a sequel, which would make this the first.) Curious to see how they get Will Smith to "return" for the sequel. (Let me guess: It involves cloning.)
Oh, and if you liked the new movie version, cool. Do yourself a (big) favor and read the book now.
Review: I Am Legend
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Warner Brothers », Theatrical Reviews »
''When I started in movies, I said, 'I want to be the biggest movie star in the world.' The biggest movie stars make the biggest movies, so (my producing partner James Lassiter and I) looked at the top 10 movies of all time. At that point, they were all special-effects movies. So Independence Day -- no-brainer. Men in Black -- no-brainer. I, Robot -- no-brainer.'' -- Will Smith, Entertainment Weekly, "Hollywood's 50 Smartest," Nov. 28, 2007
And that's a fairly loaded turn of phrase, because to many movie fans, 'no-brainer' better describes the scripts and direction of Independence Day, Men in Black and I, Robot than it does the decision to star in them. And before seeing I Am Legend, a third Hollywood version of Richard Matheson's 1954 book following in the footsteps of 1964's The Last Man on Earth and 1971's The Omega Man, the specter and spectacle of Smith's track record in big-budget science fiction loomed like a dark cloud. I walked into I Am Legend cautious and underwhelmed, with Smith's past genre efforts in mind; I staggered out of I Am Legend impressed and enthused and a little wrung-out after a well-executed and perfectly pitched demonstration of brute-force big-money horror-action film making. I'm hesitant to say how well I Am Legend will endure the test of time, but while you're watching it, you're caught in an iron grip, moved and manipulated and carried away by film makers who know exactly how to make you sink into our seat with dread. I shivered and tensed throughout I Am Legend, and at the end of the credits, I was dumbstruck to learn it was PG-13; it felt far more gripping and grim and upsetting than that rating would suggest.
Cinematical Seven: Stupid Things Last Men on Earth Do
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Cinematical Seven »
As a longtime science fiction aficionado with a weakness for special effects, Francis Lawrence's I Am Legend is catnip to me. That doesn't mean I won't be watching with a critical eye, though. I've accumulated a long list of pet peeves about the way that "last man on earth" stories are told, both in print and on screen, and personal warning signs have already popped up just from watching the trailers for I Am Legend. I hope I'm proven wrong and that the film allays my concerns, carrying me away to another time and place, but I'll be on the lookout for some of the stupid things last men on earth do -- and don't do.
1. They Become Attached to Just One Pet
Uh oh, it looks like Will Smith only has one dog. That's never a good sign. He exercises with him, tells him to eat his vegetables, hunts with him, and bathes him. (Later he holds the dog's limp body in his arms; just before that, he screams "Nooooooo!!", sounding like Darth Vader, which may or may not be related to what happens to the dog.) Why do you think all those old ladies keep dozens of cats around? In case one of them dies! Now, I'm not saying Will Smith's dog dies in the movie -- I told you, I haven't seen it -- but if you're the last man on earth, you have to plan ahead. Even if your best dog friend doesn't get eaten by lions or murdered by mysterious creatures of the night, you might actually outlive your buddy, so always have multiple dogs hanging around just in case. (Don't fret too much; remember, All Dogs Go to Heaven.) Unless, of course, Will's canine pal is The Last Dog on Earth, which might be another movie entirely.
WB Has a New Poster for 'I Am Legend'
Filed under: Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Warner Brothers », Posters »
When you consider the last poster release we got from I am Legend; at least you knew that it could only get better from there. Movies Online started off by hosting 4 different posters for the the big-screen version of Richard Matheson's 1954 classic. But here's the bad news: two of them were just some pretty convincing fakes. I can't say I'm too disappointed since they look like they are cast offs from the Bad Boys II marketing campaign. Luckily, Warner Bros has produced a brand new poster for the film (which you can see to the right, and click on for a larger version), and it's definitely a step up from the first one (it's still the same general idea, but it's just a teeny bit more stylish).
Legend centers on the lone survivor of a 'vampiric plague'. Immune to the disease, he struggles to find a cure before the infected survivors wipe him out. Directed by Constantine's Francis Lawrence, the script was written by Mark Protosevich (Poseidon). Protosevich has been devoted to the project, writing his first draft almost 10 years ago. After numerous drafts and casting upheavals, the production began filming on location in New York and was completed last spring.
There is still the release of a Legend comic book from DC Comics and Vertigo expected in November that will be the basis for some online animated featurettes. The comic was created by Protosevich, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Orson Scott Card. Even Matheson's son helped out on the project as a consultant. Not content with stopping at a comic book and a series of shorts, WB commissioned a Second Life I Am Legend-related MMO game. Up against all of that, a movie poster seems downright quaint. I am Legend will hit theaters on December 14th.
Frank Langella Joins Cameron Diaz in 'The Box'
Filed under: Horror », Casting », Newsstand »
When you first movie is a cult sensation and your second movie is ... troubled, it's best to have a third project waiting in the wings. Fortunately for Donnie Darko and Southland Tales director Richard Kelly, that third flick is -- after a long gestation period -- finally coming together. According to Variety, veteran character actor Frank Langella will be joining Cameron Diaz in the horror film The Box. The trade paper says Langella will play "a stranger who presents a mysterious box to a woman." How's that for a killer role?But Variety also reminds us that The Box is based on an old Richard Matheson story called Button, Button. (The basic premise is this: You're given a magical box and if you press the button, you become rich -- but a total stranger will die. You may remember this story from an episode of the "new" Twilight Zone that ran in the late '80s.) Although Eli Roth used to be connected to this project (as a writer, I believe), it now looks like it's Kelly's show all the way. When Cinematical interviewed Kelly at Fantastic Fest, he had this to say regarding The Box: "But my next movie is a psychological thriller, it's PG-13, has a mainstream concept, and it's something the studio is much more comfortable in committing to right away, telling us they'll put it on 2500 screens." So it's a horror film, but we're talking
And just in case you forgot, another Matheson adaptation -- I Am Legend -- hits theaters in December.
Retro Cinema: The Last Man on Earth
Filed under: Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Retro Cinema »
Come this Christmas, I Am Legend, a science fiction horror film starring Will Smith and based on a novel by Richard Matheson, will be hitting theaters. This will make three adaptations for Matheson's novel, the last being 1971's The Omega Man, which starred Charlton Heston. The book was first adapted for the 1964 film The Last Man on Earth, a bleak post-apocalyptic nightmare starring Vincent Price. While still taking a few liberties with the source material, the Price film is easily the more faithful of the two, and this Italian/British co-production has been a personal favorite for years.
The film opens with a series of shots depicting a city with no citizens. A few bodies lie here and there, but otherwise the streets are empty. The Marquee in front of a church reads "The End Has Come." The camera moves into a residential neighborhood and into the home of Dr. Robert Morgan (Price), the titular last man on earth whose sanity is hanging by a thread. Each night Morgan's house is assaulted by vampire-like creatures, the after effects of the global plague that has wiped out mankind. The creatures are bloodthirsty but weak and are only dangerous in numbers.
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