Ghost House Pictures news (Monkey's Paw, Siren, Burst, etc.)

[august]

A teeny update on Burst (written by one Gary Dauberman) from Shock Till You Drop:

Set during a vicious winter storm, the story focuses on disparate group of folks holed up in a lodge. Soon some of them literally begin to burst in a messy explosion.

I had heard rumblings that momentum was building on this film's development; that Ghost House was aiming to shoot it in 3-D and would partner with Lionsgate to produce. When I hit up Tapert for confirmation, he offered this:

"[Burst] is something we're attempting to bring to the marketplace and there is a director we have danced with and we're trying to dot all of the i's and cross all of the t's. Some time in the next week or two you'll hear about the director you'll know and you'll say, 'Hmm, he could do a really cool version of it.'"

So it would appear Daniel Calparsoro - who was attached last year - is no longer in the director's chair...

[august]

Add another - Urugayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez has been singed to a $30 million deal with Ghost House based on a $300 short film that he posted on YouTube, "about a massive robot invasion of Montevideo." Proving yet again that the way to make it in Hollywood is a) to be born with talent, and b) use it to make a film rather than griping about other people's films online. :laugh:

John Hlavin, whose credits include the TV series The Shield and the script for Underworld 4 worked on a story with Alvarez and is now doing the script script for the as-yet-untitled genre project. Alvarez says:

"...it's a new take on an alien invasion movie.....In a way, it's impossible to deny that this is following District 9 in some way, but it wasn't my intention.....
......

Now we have the whole plot. It wasn't hard because when you have creative freedom to do the movie you want, it's easier and a more natural process. We just sat down and figured out what would [please us]. That's basically what Raimi said to me during our first call: "Just make sure you do the movie that you always wanted to go to the theater to watch." I hope we make it.

Q: What's it been like working with Raimi?

FA: He's the coolest guy ever -- he's really been there for us. He's been very protective -- that's why he offered the deal the way he did. He wanted me to do this movie outside the studio system to allow more creative control. I think his goal is to make sure that it's my movie and I'm happy with the process. Of course, when he thinks we've made a bad decision, he's going to say something. He's an advisor; he's the godfather of the project.....

Details [url=http://www.awn.com/articles/cg/fede-alvarez-talks-panic-attack
]here[/url].

And on top of that.... Mania.com reports that Bryan Bertino, writer/director of The Strangers, "will direct This Man, an original screenplay that he will also pen."

“We look forward to partnering with Bryan and Adrienne to develop this unique, hair-raising horror story that will be sure to delight horror fans,” shares Sam Raimi.

Based on real life accounts, the story follows an ordinary guy who discovers that people he has never met are seeing him in their dreams. Now he must find out why he is the source of nightmares for strangers all over the world.

Ghost House had acquired the rights to a website created by Italian sociologist Andrea Natella. The website was created to help connect those who had seen this man in their dreams and to foster communication among them.

[august]

[august]

"The Familiars" lives as well! From ComingSoon.net:

Doug Sweetland, the animation director best known for Pixar's 2008 animated short, "Presto," has signed on to direct The Familiars for Sony....

The animated film, to be based on the children's fantasy book series written by Adam Jay Epstein and Andrew Jacobson, follows three young wizard apprentices who, after being whisked away to an evil kingdom by a nefarious queen, must rely on their animal companions -- an alley cat, a blue jay and a tree frog -- to escape.
.....

Josh Donen and Sam Raimi are attached as producers on the project.

[august]

[august]

[COLOR="#0000CD"]BTW, Jack the Giant Killer (see above) became a Brian Singer/Ewan McGregor project no longer connected to Sam.

While some of the films "attached" to Sam above are just rumors (Pirates, for example, and I dropped the Jack Ryan and Hobbit ones) and more are "in development," that's still more than thirty :eek: films that someone is paying someone to do something with, in some connection to Sam! Not even counting Spartacus, the new anime-series Noir, etc.[/COLOR]

[august]

An interesting article on the films that Sam never filmed:

https://screenrant.com/sam-raimi-best-ca...vie-ideas/

[Michael]

Interesting indeed. It's hard to think of a compliment that doesn't sound canned. Raimi sometimes gets ahead of the industry, I guess. And maybe he's better than some directors at backing out of a deal he has no confidence in.

I would have loved to have seen the Garfield/Maguire team up in a Spider-man movie. But I'm glad they were drawn into "Spider-man: No Way Home" instead. The blending of all three major movie franchises enrichens all of them.