World War Z may be looking for a new director

First there were delays then there was the news that J Michael Straczynski's script was being rewritten by script hot shot Matthew Michael Carnahan.

Now a rumour that came from the San Diego Comic Con that Paramount Pictures is currently looking for a new director.

Currently attached is Marc Forster who directed Quantum of Solace. To me Quantum was a huge disappointment after the excellent Casino Royale. The action scenes in Quantum just didn't work. Therefore, the news that Forster may not be doing World War Z is actually pretty cool to me. I just really want to see Max Brooks excellent book on the big screen - The Battle of Yonkers, lobos, the astronauts on the space station watching the swarms of the undead, underwater zombies and more.

This is a rumour at the moment, but who would be a good director for this adaption? Zack Snyder, Spielberg, Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Lloyd Kaufman? Who could it be?

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Sam Rami to direct World of Warcraft film

Sam Raimi has signed on to direct "Warcraft," the live-action film adaptation of the fantasy videogame franchise World of Warcraft. Exciting news. I just hope he brings his Army of Darkness and Spider-Man 2 skills to the film and not Spidey 3!

Legendary Pictures and vidgame publisher Blizzard Entertainment are mounting the film, and Warner Bros. will co-finance and distribute. The team boasts an impressive pedigree: In addition to the director of "Spider-Man," the partners have added "The Dark Knight" producer Charles Roven to the creative mix.

The plan is for Raimi to supervise development of "Warcraft" and shoot the picture after he completes work on "Spider-Man 4," which gets under way early next year for Columbia Pictures.

The movie will be financed under the Legendary Pictures' co-production and co-financing deal with WB, in a manner similar to the Todd Phillips-directed "The Hangover" plus the Roven-produced "Batman Begins" and "Dark Knight."

The "Warcraft" universe features an epic conflict between the Horde and the Alliance. The game has developed a global following since its launch in 1994 and shows no signs of slowing. Its most recent expansion, "Wrath of the Lich King," sold more than 2.8 million copies in the first day of release and more than 4 million its first month.

"Warcraft" is "emblematic of the kind of branded, event films for which our studio is best known," said Warner Bros. Pictures Group president Jeff Robinov. The deal revives a long-dormant pact made by Legendary and Blizzard for a film adaptation of the game (Daily Variety, May 8, 2006).

"At its core, 'Warcraft' is a fantastic, action-packed story," Raimi said in a statement.

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Spider-Man 4 producer talks villains

Todd Black the producer of Spider-Man 4 has been speaking to the New York Post. He has confirmed a few things:

Kirsten Dunst is definitely set to return, contrary to early rumors that she might be replaced (I personally wish the character was changed from the whiney one from the last couple of films).

There will be no wedding between Peter and Mary Jane.

Morbius the living vampire is not a villain in the film.

However, he goes on to give a few clues as to who it could be."We're just coming up with who the villain's going to be now. We'll be shooting in New York again. Trust me, people will appreciate who we pick, because it'll be a big part of New York." He also adds that "the villain will be one of Spidey's foes from the comic, not a character invented for the film."

That doesn't really narrow it down as Spider-Man is set in New York, and most of his villains are from there as well. Add in the fact the comic has been going for so many years then there are many to choose from. Plus it may not be a big name villain, maybe a lesser one who has been beefed up. The weird thing is the fact he says "it'll be a big part of New York."

Some sites have mentioned Kraven the Hunter but as he's not from New York that goes against what Black has said. The Kingpin is definitely a NY boy so he is a strong possibility, but as he was in the Daredevil film there may be some rights issues with that. Mind you he is big so maybe Black was being cryptic with his clues.

Another choice is the Lizard who is Parker's mutated teacher. Dr Conner has been shown in previous films (he is the man with one arm and his research on lizard's regeneration abilities causes his change) and there are urban legends of lizards and alligators in the NY sewers.

Then of course there is J. Jonah Jameson who, in the comics and animated series financed the creation of Scorpion and set the Spider-Slayer robots on Spider-Man.

Other villains from NYC (as far as I am aware so apologies if I get any wrong) are Electro, Hobgoblin, Hammerhead, Molten Man, Jackel, and the Vulture.

Rhino and the Chameleon were both originally from Russia. Mysterio would be cool but I think he was originally from California.

I personally feel it will either be the Lizard or the Vulture, but we shall have to wait and see.

It is a pity that Morbius won't be in it, even though Sam Raimi gave a strong hint that it could be. Maybe Black is giving us some Michael Bay misdirection?

What villain do you think will be in the fourth Spider-Man film?

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Will Morbius the Living Vampire be in Spider-Man 4?

CHUD have part of an interview from Fear.net with Sam Raimi. They ask Sam of the possibility of a vampire being in the new Spidey film. He responds with “What? I don’t know anything about that”. Then he goes on to explain why vampires are so cool.

"I guess they're very appealing. The best of villains have some positive qualities. That is - they can be very sexy and alluring. And the way in which they attack you is very sensual, it's almost something you desire."

"That's why I like the fact that there is a cure against them in some of the lore, like garlic or the cross. That's really interesting, that there is a way to stop them. There's a whole story that can be made with all those elements. So its got some real rules and laws…"

"And that you can be turned into one of them is interesting also. Its got a lot of enticing qualities for a storyteller or an audience."

The main vampire in Spider-Man's world is Morbius.

Michael Morbius was born in Greece. He was attacked by the Lizard and defeated when Spider-Man and the Lizard joined forces. A flashback reveals that Morbius was actually a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, who had attempted to cure himself of a rare blood disease with an experimental treatment involving vampire bats and electroshock therapy. However, he instead became afflicted with a far worse condition that mimicked the powers and blood-thirst of legendary vampirism. Morbius now had to digest blood in order to survive and had a strong aversion to light. He gained the ability to fly, as well as superhuman strength, speed, and healing abilities. His appearance became hideous—his canine teeth extended into fangs, his nose flattened to appear more like a bat's, and his skin became chalk-white

His origin is tied into genetic manipulation to cure a disease. The same applies to Dr. Curt Connors who uses gene therapy and lizard DNA to help regenerate his lost arm. This results in him becoming The Lizard. Connors has already appeared in the Spider-Man films as Parker's lecturer.

The possibility is there for both Morbius and The Lizard to appear in the next film and their origins could easily be connected. Plus Peter Parker could use his scientific knowledge to help cure them as well as beat them up.

What are your thoughts? Would you like to see Spider-Man go up against a vampire and a reptile? Who could play Morbius (maybe Hellboy 2's Luke Goss)? If not those bad guys who would you like to see in the next Spider-Man film?

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Drag Me To Hell - Interview with Sam Raimi

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Drag Me to Hell TV Spot - Nice People

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Drag Me to Hell - TV Spot - Screaming

Cristine Brown (Alison Lohman) has a great job, a loving boyfriend, and only three days to live. From Sam Raimi, the director of Spider-Man and the Evil Dead trilogy... On May 29th, even nice people can go to Hell.

TV spot for Drag Me to Hell shows never before seen footage from the film.

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Drag Me To Hell - TV Spot - Terror

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Drag Me to Hell - New Trailer for Sam Raimi's new horror film

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Drag Me To Hell - Poster for Sam Raimi's latest horror film

Here is the new poster for Sam Raimi's latest horror film, Drag Me To Hell. Fingers crossed he's got his Evil Dead mojo working. I quite like the poster although it does seem quite Photoshoppy.

The story follows Christine Brown (Alison Lohman), an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break? Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), and get a leg-up on a promotion?

Christine fatefully chooses the latter, shaming Mrs. Ganush and dispossessing her of her home. In retaliation, the old woman places the powerful curse of the Lamia on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell. Haunted by an evil spirit and misunderstood by a skeptical boyfriend, she seeks the aid of seer Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) to save her soul from eternal damnation. To help the shattered Christine return her life to normal, the psychic sets her on a frantic course to reverse the spell. As evil forces close in, Christine must face the unthinkable: how far will she go to break free of the curse?

Source: STYD (via /film)

Drag Me To Hell is due out on 29th May 2009.

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Sam Raimi talks about Evil Dead 4

IGN caught up with Raimi down at SXSW, where he was showing an early cut of Drag Me to Hell, and asked him about updates on the franchise, including a remake and a sequel. He doesn't promise anything too soon, but does give us some hope, especially on the side of the remake more than anything.

"I have talked with my partners about having a young director come in and remake Evil Dead," Raimi revealed to IGN. "That film was made in 16mm on a
shoestring budget and blown up to 35mm. The visual effects are crumby, it was done in mono, not even stereo, let alone 5.1. What you could do with it now would be so much better. I think if you had a new director using the full power of 35mm and 5.1 sound, you could really make a pretty socko presentation. It was always meant for the big screen, but never really seen on the big screen."

Source: First Showing

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Spider-Man 4 due out in 2011

Marvel Entertainment, Inc. has announced a new set of release dates for its film slate. Included on the new schedule is a 2011 bow for 'Spider-Man 4', with 'The Avengers' getting pushed back nearly a full year to 2012.

Fans can look forward to the webslinger's return on May 6, 2011, as Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire continue the franchise that made Marvel a star player in Hollywood. As with previous 'Spider-Man' films, that one is a Sony Pictures Entertainment production.

Marvel had previously staked out that date for the release of the new 'First Avenger: Captain America' movie, with the mega-crossover pic 'The Avengers' slated to come out few months after. '

Now Marvel has shuffled its film schedule to make room for Spidey. 'Iron Man 2' remains locked into to its previously announced May 7, 2010 release. However 'Thor', which was also slated for 2010, is now on tap for June 17, 2011. 'Captain America' will arrive later that same summer with a July 22, 2011 date.

Source: Mania

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Drag Me to Hell - Trailer for Sam Raimi's latest horror film

Director Sam Raimi returns to the horror genre with Drag Me to Hell, an original tale of a young woman's desperate quest to break an evil curse.

Christine Brown (Alison Lohman) is an ambitious L.A. loan officer with a charming boyfriend, professor Clay Dalton (Justin Long). Life is good until the mysterious Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver) arrives at the bank to beg for an extension on her home loan. Should Christine follow her instincts and give the old woman a break? Or should she deny the extension to impress her boss, Mr. Jacks (David Paymer), and get a leg-up on a promotion? Christine fatefully chooses the latter, shaming Mrs. Ganush and dispossessing her of her home.

In retaliation, the old woman places the powerful curse of the Lamia on Christine, transforming her life into a living hell. Haunted by an evil spirit and misunderstood by a skeptical boyfriend, she seeks the aid of seer Rham Jas (Dileep Rao) to save her soul from eternal damnation. To help the shattered Christine return her life to normal, the psychic sets her on a frantic course to reverse the spell. As evil forces close in, Christine must face the unthinkable: how far will she go to break free of the curse?

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Hail to the King Baby - Army of Darkness is heading to Blu-Ray

I really need to get me a blu-ray player. Any Blu-Ray player suppliers want to hook me up?

Good news for all things Ash from Blu-ray.com

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring Sam Raimi's 'Army of Darkness: Screwhead Edition' to Blu-ray on May 19th, day-and-date with the DVD release. Coming on a BD-25, video will be presented in 1.85:1 1080p VC-1 accompanied by a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Extras for this release include:

• U-CONTROL: Universal's exclusive signature feature, U-Control puts viewers one click away from going deeper into the making of the film without ever leaving the movie
  • PRODUCTION PHOTOS: Access interactive production photos from the set without interruption to the movie experience.
• BD-LIVE(TM): Access the BD-Live(TM) Center through your Internet-connected player to get even more content, watch the latest trailers, and more!
• MY SCENES: Pick your favorite scenes from the film to create your own video montage.
• ALTERNATE ENDING: See the original ending planned for the film.
• DELETED SCENES: Additional scenes that never played in theaters.
• THE MEN BEHIND THE ARMY: Go behind-the-scenes with star Bruce Campbell.
• ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE: See extra footage shot for the film.
• FEATURE COMMENTARY with director Sam Raimi, star Bruce Campbell, and co-writer Ivan Raimi
• THEATRICAL TRAILER: The original promotional trailer for the theatrical release

The excellent piece of artwork above was by a brilliant artist called Nebezial.

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Drag Me To Hell - Opinion's are out on Sam Raimi's latest horror

/film have collected a load of thoughts from around the internet about Sam Raimi's new horror film, Drag Me To Hell.


Collider: “If you’ve seen the Evil Dead movies and love them, then you’ll loooooove this movie. It’s the best movie I’ve seen in theaters in such a long time.” … “There are some moments where I just jumped out of my chair. It’s really great.” … “I wish Raimi wasn’t doing Spider-Man 4 and he just did a ton of movies like this. It’s so great to see he still has it.”

AICN “This movie…oh man. I didn’t realize how much I missed having this living piss scared out of me.” … “his movie was sincerely fantastic. I love Sam Raimi and, after being turned off by Spiderman 3, I was immensely stoked to see a horror film from him. I can’t recommend it enough.”

AndrewDignan on Twitter: “Sam recycles every great gag from the Evil Dead films in service of a throwaway story. So, kind of awesome.”

Brandon Lee Tenney on Twitter: “It was A LOT of fun and most definitely vintage Raimi at his best.”

GeekTyrant: “It has been a long time since we have seen a horror movie directed by Sam Raimi, and I gotta tell you I loved it! He brought it and he brought it hard! Raimi has still got the skills and he made one of the best freakin horror films I have seen in years! It was everything I hoped it would be and more.” … “For a PG-13 movie it was pretty hardcore and in your face disgusting. There are images in this film that made me gag, and groan out load, at the same time it had me gleefully laughing with Raimi’s classic sense of humor.”

The Daring Adventures of Bingo TC: “A good suspenseful movie, Sam Raimi still knows how to get get you to be shocked, scared and laugh at the same time.” … “the setup for the twist ending was a little obvious.”

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The Shadow knows when the remake will be

I'm a big fan of all things pulp and The Shadow is very much pulp. I love the old novels and the whole mythos around him. I even enjoyed The Shadow film starring Alec Baldwin. Therefore when it was mentioned a while back that there could be a new take on The Shadow heading to the big screens I was all ready to don my scarf and floppy hat and head down to the local picture house. Then it all went quiet.

Now MTV have some news on what could be happening with the new version.

Producer Michael Uslan’s had mentioned that he’d be offering fans a take on the character that’s more true to his roots. Then, when word got out that Sam Raimi was onboard as a fellow producer, fans knew this vision of The Shadow would be vastly different from the 1994 offering.

“I think the one thing going in is we all see The Shadow as more of a force of nature than a specific person in a secret identity,” Uslan told MTV in an exclusive interview. “The Shadow may actually be many people.”

“We’ve gone back to the pulp roots, the comic book roots of The Shadow, with a dash of the radio roots,” added Uslan. “But we’ve deeply ensconced ourselves in the world of pulps and comics.”

However, looks like it will still take a while before it goes into production.

“Sam [Raimi] and Josh Donen are my partners and we have it set up Sony, and a wonderful writer named Siavash Farahani who has worked for me before is writing the screenplay,” Uslan said. “It’s coming along great, we’re very excited about it. You know, it takes time to nurture these things. You probably know all the stories. The first ‘Batman’ film took me 10 years to get made.”

The above image by Howard Chaykin.
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The Random

McG says filming for Terminator Salvation has wrapped.

"Despite planning to sit down and pen a fourth "Evil Dead" film with his brother Ivan this past Summer, Sam Raimi admits he never got around to it due to his work commitments to "Drag Me to Hell". This the project is "still on the back-burner...I just don't know when"..." (full details)"

"Die Hard" director John McTiernan will have a chance to withdraw his guilty plea in a Hollywood wiretapping case that got him sentenced to four months in federal prison..." (full details)

"Former US Football star Ken Harvey is seeking financial backing for a film about a young boy who joins "a space-sport team in his quest to avenge the death of his father and to win the rights to mine for Helium-3?..." (full details)

"David T. Friendly has confirmed that a second sequel to the hit Martin Lawrence comedy "Big Momma's House" is currently being penned and fast-tracked to go into production next year..." (full details)"

"300" and "Sin City" creator Frank Miller says that he's thinking about revitalizing an old sci-fi hero, no word on which one however..." (full details)

"A quite incredible 2001 film student short film that teases what a "Rendezvous with Rama" film might look like..." (full details)

"Director Wes Craven says that '25/8' might get a name change and the upcoming 'Last House on the Left' remake is a hard R..." (full details)

"NBC has picked up "Knight Rider" for a full season, the fourth new series to get the full greenlight alongside Fox's "Fringe," The CW's "90210" and CBS' "The Mentalist"..." (full details)

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Raimi talks about Spider-Man 4 and the Lizard

Sam Raimi has been talking to MTV about the new Spider-Man movies. Looks like things are moving forward on them. I just hope they are better than the third one.

“I’m really excited about Spider-Man, and I’m hoping to direct it,” he cautioned. “I don’t have a script yet, but production would start probably by March of 2010, I’m guessing. It sounds like a long time away, but we need a script first, and a lot of pre-production has to take place.”

The filmmaking legend also revealed to us that there is a lot of truth behind rumors that he might shoot the next two “Spider-Man” films at the same time. “That had been talked about,” he said, deferring to the head of his studio. “It’s Amy Pascal’s decision. I don’t think it has been decided yet, and she’s the one that’s really going to make that decision; I’m really curious myself.”

By his own admission, “Spider-Man 3” was an exhaustive film to shoot, but Raimi is confident he can handle the double duty. “It would be a real endurance test, probably only Peter Jackson knows how hard something like that would be,” he marveled, hinting that “4” and “5” would be very closely linked in storyline. “If Tobey and me, and all the producers, like the story for two pictures and Amy wanted to do it, then we would do it. It just hasn’t been written yet.”

Finally, Raimi offered comment on the wishes of fans (and yours truly) to finally let Dylan Baker’s storyline come to fruition. “He’s a great actor, and I think one day The Lizard’s story will be told,” he teased, referring to Baker’s Curt Connors character. “I don’t know if it will be this one or not. I just don’t know. I’m definitely hoping to work with Dylan in the picture. I just don’t know who the villain is yet.”

What do you think of the news? Do you want to see the Lizard as the big bad or someone else? How could they improve upon the third movie?

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Is Evil Dead 4 dead by dawn?

Filmstalker have the news:

The other day Bruce Campbell came out and spoke about the possibility, and was quite harsh about it. He's said pretty much the same thing before, but not with as much power.

"Look, let's cut to the chase because you keep dancing around it, if you're talking about Ash coming back again, Sam Raimi has the best perspective. He says, 'Look, I can go back and do Ash vs. whoever whenever I want. I can do that when I'm 70; I don't have to do that now. Right now I'm on a fast, fat groovy train in Hollywood.' And he's going to follow that, and he'll come back and to EVIL DEAD stuff when he's unemployed and living at the Old Director's Home"

That quote came from Toyfare through AITH and doesn't sound like there's a chance of it happening soon, if at all to be honest.

Then today we hear another point of view on the team, from the producer Rob Tapert. He's more interested in the musical version again, a 3D musical version no doubt, although he does reveal that Sam Raimi is still talking of a fourth film:

"There's a guy [producer Don Carmody] who wants to make a musical out of it, a 3-D musical based on the one [Evil Dead: The Musical] that ran off-Broadway...And I still think that that's the one I'd like to see greatly. Sam promises he's going to do Evil Dead IV, with Bruce Campbell starring in it [as Ash], at some point in time. I just hope Bruce is still alive."

Those comments through SciFi Wire.

It doesn't look good for Ash and a musical Evil Dead sounds pretty poor. What do you think of the news?
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Tobey Maguire's deal to film Spider-Man 4 and 5

Tobey Maguire is that much closer to signing a deal for the next two Spider-Man films. According to The Times Online, Maguire is willing to shoot Spider-Man 4 and Spider-Man 5 back-to-back over six months next year for a record $50 million in salary and profit shares.

The story makes a big deal of a supposed clause in the contract which would give Maguire unprecedented early mornings and evenings off for “family time”. The idea is that shooting two films back to back is an exhausting task, and the clause would build in time off for Maguire to spend time with his 22 month old daughter. As CinemaBlend puts it, “Tobey Maguire is being paid $50 million to put in half-days at work.”

Source: /film
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