News

New horror brand Alter, in association with Diga Studios and Pod 3, has teamed up to release a new anthology series called 50 States of Fright which explores the country's urban legends. Directed and co-written by Sam Raimi, the cast includes Taissa Farmiga, Christina Ricci, and Rachel Brosnahan, just to name a few. Also: FrightFest's Halloween event details, The Fan's debut of Blu-ray, and production and release details announced for Necropolis: Legion.

50 States of Fright Release Details: "Quibi, Gunpowder & Sky’s new horror brand, Alter, that explores the human condition through warped perspectives, along with Diga Studios and Pod 3 announced today that Rachel Brosnahan, Travis Fimmel, Christina Ricci, Jacob Batalon, Ming-Na Wen, Taissa Farmiga, Asa Butterfield, John Marshall Jones, and Ron Livingston will each star in an episode of the upcoming horror anthology series, “50 States of Fright.” The first season of “50 States of Fright” will explore stories based on urban legends from Colorado,...

Back in November, Summit Entertainment brought on John Wick and John Wick 2 director Chad Stahelski to direct their long-gestating Highlander remake, which has been in various forms of development since Summit picked up the rights to the franchise back in 2008. Directors such as Justin Lin (Star Trek Beyond), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intruders) and Cerdric Nicolas-Troyan (The Huntsman: Winter's War) had been attached to direct over the years, and at one point, Ryan Reynolds was even attached to star, before dropping the project in 2013, which is interesting since Chad Stahelski is also directing Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2, taking over for the departing Tim Miller. Now the gestating remake seems to be on the right track, with the director revealing that he's not only developing one movie, but he's starting to put a trilogy together.

Collider caught up with Chad Stahelski while he was promoting John Wick 2, in theaters...

Well, in terms of keeping the project under wraps, DreamWorks can probably find a silver lining from “Haunted” in that no one knew it existed until today. But the circumstances around why people know about this horror film are probably not what they wanted.

THR reports that the movie, which was set to start filming within weeks, and had Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later,” “Intruders“) directing a script by Scott Z.

Continue reading DreamWorks Axes Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s ‘Haunted,’ Penned By Scott Z. Burns at The Playlist.

Game of Thrones fans may be pleased to know that Rose Leslie is set to star in Haunted, a new DreamWorks horror film inspired by Henry James’ 1898 novella, Turn of the Screw.

Deadline reports the news of Leslie taking on the lead role in Haunted, which will be directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later, Intruders).

Leslie joins a cast that currently includes Alfre Woodard. Specific plot details on the DreamWorks film are currently unknown, as well as information regarding Leslie’s character. The supernatural screenplay was written by Chad and Carey Hayes (The Conjuring movies) and is produced by Scott Bernstein, Roy Lee, and John Middleton.

In addition to playing Ygritte on Game of Thrones, Leslie starred in Leigh Janiak’s breakout horror film Honeymoon, acted alongside Vin Diesel in The Last Witch Hunter, and will appear in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Morgan.

Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on Haunted,...

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director of Intacto, 28 Weeks Later, and Intruders, has been selected to helm Haunted, a new adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw, according to Deadline. This is apparently a passion project for Steven Spielberg, and is based on a script by Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes (The Conjuring). Roy Lee, John Middleton and Scott Bernstein are on board as producers. Fresnadillo is one of Spain's most successful filmmaking exports: Intacto a cult favourite among cinemaphiles, a strange and surreal film (in Spanish and English) about luck and gambling; 28 Weeks Later was a well-made film and much better than the usual sequels to popular genre films. He has been busy of late working in television, directing the pilot for...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Shooting has commenced on Access All Areas, a wild and uplifting pilgrimage undertaken by runaway teenagers to a magical island music festival. The film starts its shoot at Bestival on the Isle of Wight, which includes participation from live music acts, and then moves to Bristol to film on location for five weeks.

Access All Areas is described as an intoxicating and memorable journey in to the magic of music festivals and all the crazy and wonderful things that can happen in these other worlds.

Newcomer Edward Bluemel (represented by Hamilton Hodell) leads the cast as Heath, a young man trying to keep it together. Shackled by his wildly unpredictable mum, he can see no way out of his dead-end urban rut, and music is his only escape. This is Edward's screen debut, he graduated from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama this year, and was the winner...

Fans of The Crow desperately awaiting the reboot haven't had the best of luck over the past few years. Earlier this month, the project's studio home, Relativity Media, filed for bankruptcy, stalling it yet again, despite reports that the studio still planned on starting production this fall. James O'Barr, who created the comic book the original movie and the reboot is based on, revealed at the Twin Tiers Comic Con in Elmira, NY last weekend that the movie will still happen, once they find a new studio. Here's what he had to say at the Twin Tiers panel, hosted by ComicBook.com.

"It's still very much a live property. The company, Pressman Films, that owns The Crow film and TV rights, licensed it to a studio named Relativity. And Relativity made like a hundred bad movies and lost money so now they're in financial trouble. So the producers are just...

The proposed "Highlander" remake has been cooking through the development process for a few years now. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ("28 Weeks Later," "Intruders") was attached at one point, and then Ryan Reynolds was bandied about to lead, but both names drifted away. Then, last fall, visual effects supervisor and second unit director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan signed on to helm in what would be his feature debut, and now it appears Summit Entertainment want a big name to anchor the redo. The Wrap reports that the studio is seeking Tom Cruise to take on the Sean Connery mentor role in their redo. All the sources stress that this is, at most, a wish on behalf of the studio, with the actor's own reps noting he's busy with "Mission: Impossible 5" at moment, and that Cruise tends to have a lot of things on his desk to look at. And frankly, this probably isn't the most enticing prospect.

Two teenage British stars are set to join Eva Green in Tim Burton's new feature film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, according to Variety.

Asa Butterfield is in negotiations to play the lead 17 year old Jacob, who sets off in a search for answers to the story of his eastern European grandfather, after the traumatic & mysterious death of his beloved grandfather. He finds himself transported to an island where he must help protect a group of orphans with special powers from creatures who are out to destroy them.

Asa (represented by Independent Talent) was recently nominated for Best Actor at the BFI film awards for his role as a maths prodigy in X + Y, and he has previously played the lead in Ender's Game, Hugo and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.

18 year old Ella Purnell will join him as young girl named Emma who can control fire...

Disney

The term “box office poison” is one synonymous with actors who, for a multitude of reasons, just can’t seem to catch a break. Despite each of these performers having a significant enough profile with audiences, there’s something about them that just doesn’t entice people to go catch their latest movies, and as a result, they’ve endured a string of financially unsuccessful efforts, regardless of the critical acclaim they may have acquired (in some cases, at least).

Hiring these actors will, for the most part, result in a movie failing to gather any financial traction whatsoever, and while we can’t discount the fact that some of these actors willfully picked art over commerce, there’s no denying the fact that a string of monetary flops will do little to help any actor’s career.

Some of these performers are at least lucky enough to do well from animated fare,...

Let's all take a moment to thank Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds and the sensational foreign actors he's managed to bring into Hollywood's spotlight through it, like Michael Fassbender, Christoph Waltz, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, and Daniel Brühl. Since Inglourious Basterds debuted, the Barcelona born Brühl has been popping up in a slew of American movies from the horror-thriller Intruders, to the cheeky indie sequel 2 Days In New York, and to a double dose of docudramas with Rush and The Fifth Estate. Fitting then that he's now in talks for Woman in Gold, another drama that has found its inspiration in real life. Deadline reports Brühl has entered into negotiations to co-star in The Weinstein Company's Woman In Gold, which will be directed by My Week With Marilyn helmer Simon Curtis. Should he sign on, Brühl would join a cast that includes Ryan Reynolds and Helen ...

A few weeks back you may have read me talking about the entertainment package that Now TV were now offering alongside movies and sport accessible through their box or online that was £4.99 a month and gave you access to shows from HBO showing in the UK through Sky Atlantic. Unless you have been in outer space for the last month, you may have also heard a little buzz about some small show from HBO called True Detective. Well good news if you heeded my recommendations and invested in a subscription because the first episode of True Detective is now available on Now TV.

I don’t normally review single episodes of anything but I have watched the first episode of True Detective and feel like it should be mentioned, it could well be the best thing to come from television since Game of Thrones. True Detective is an eight part...

The remakes…always come home…like the…dead?

That’s correct, the Stephen King novel ‘Pet Sematary’ about a indian burial ground that brings things back to life, but not quite right, is getting a remake over for Paramount.

Intruders and 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is on board to direct the script by Matt Greenberg and David Kajganich who adapted the book over the 1989 film.

Super-producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura is pulling the strings, so that gives me some hope. You know what would give me more hope?

A really convincing kid.

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The post ‘Pet Sematary’ Remake Circles ’28 Weeks Later’ Director appeared first on Latino-Review.com.

"Carrie" isn't the only Stephen King novel getting a second big screen adaptation it would seem.

Filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo ("28 Weeks Later," "Intruders") is returning to the horror genre as he is set to direct the remake of "Pet Sematary" at Paramount Pictures.

The original 1983 novel follows a family who move to a small Maine town along a highway often used by high-speed trucks. Nearby lies a pet cemetery and further beyond that an ancient indian burial ground which can resurrect the dead, but those who come back aren't quite right.

When their toddler son is killed in an auto accident, the grieving father uses that power - but at the cost of several lives and his own sanity. The book was previously adapted into a quite successful film in 1989 starring Dale Midkiff, Denise Crosby and Fred Gwynne.

Matt Greenberg and David Kajganich wrote the script while Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider are producing.

For years now, we’ve heard rumblings of a Pet Sematary remake moving forward, but nothing has materialized. However, Stephen King adaptations really seem to be gaining momentum once again and a new report reveals that a horror director is planning to take on a new version of Pet Sematary.

According to Variety, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is in talks to direct the movie for Paramount, with Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider producing. Previously, Fresnadillo directed 28 Weeks Later and Intruders. The original movie, released in 1989, was based on the Stephen King novel published in 1983. There are no details on how closely the new movie would stick to the original material, but we do know that Matt Greenberg and David Kajganich wrote the script.

This is another early report, so we have very little details to provide at this time. However, we thought this would be of interest to our readers...

Since his 2011 film Intruders, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has been bouncing around reboots.  A couple years ago, he was attached to direct a reboot of The Crow and Highlander, but ended up dropping out of both.  Now he's headed toward yet another tested property.  According to Variety, he will stick with the horror genre to direct a remake of Paramount's Pet Sematary.  Based on the novel by Stephen King, the story is about a family that moves in to a home located next to a cemetery (always a bad idea), and they discover that the cemetery can bring its buried creatures back from the dead.  A remake has been kicking around for the past several years, and at one point Alexandre Aja (Piranha 3D) was in talks to direct.  Mary Lambert's 1989 adaptation grossed $57 million on a $11 million budget.  She then directed the sequel, Pet Sematary II, but it didn't...

The long-gestating Pet Sematary remake has come back to life, with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo in talks to direct.

The project was first announced back in 2004, when Mike Werb and Michael Colleary (Face / Off) were attached to write the script. It never got off the ground, resurfacing again in 2011 with a new script from Matt Greenberg. The latest version of the screenplay was co-written by Matt Greenberg and David Kajganich. No story details were released.

The original 1989 horror classic, based on Stephen King's novel, follows a family who moves in next to a cemetery, which they discover has amazing and sinister powers. Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne and Denise Crosby starred in the thriller, which earned $57 million from an $11 million budget. The thriller spawned the 1992 sequel Pet Sematary II, which starred Edward Furlong and Anthony Edwards.

Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Steven Schneider are producing the remake. No production schedule was given.

All across the land (well, the Hollywoodland, at least), studio PR departments have been rubbing their hands together in glee at the thought of announcing all their horror-tinged projects and developments on a day when spookiness is on our minds and in our hearts. The latest news looking to take advantage of the date? Word that Juan Carlos Fresnadillo is in talks to handle the Pet Sematary remake.Like a desperate father hoping to bring first his pet, then his son and his wife, back from the dead, Paramount has been trying to reawaken the remake of the 1989 adaptation of Stephen King’s chiller for a while now. The studio first began the re-imagining ritual in February 2011 with Matthew Greenberg writing the new script. Then, in August of that year, Alexandre Aja considered directing it.Now here comes Fresnadillo, a man used to scaring people after 28 Weeks Later and Intruders.

(Screened at the 2013 Raindance Film Festival) “Wayland’s Song” is the latest offering from Scottish director writer Richard Jobson, best known for grim, often violent tales such as “16 Years of Alcohol” and “New Town Killers”, as well as for being the frontman for punk band The Skids. The film sees him returning to familiar themes of soul searching and gritty, brutal realism, with Michael Nardone (“Intruders”) as the titular Wayland, a soldier who returns from Afghanistan, tormented by visions and fits from his experiences in battle and searching for his missing daughter after receiving a worrying message from her. Starting off with her druggy friends, he starts working his way closer to the unpleasant truth, having to deal with faces from his past, including a scheming detective (Brit television actor Alan McKenna) and the unbalanced wife he left behind a few years back. While there’s no doubting that Richard Jobson...

Exclusive / Updated Aug 20: The annual stampede for Toronto acquisition titles is expected to return next month as programmers line up at least a dozen must-see premieres in the first weekend.

Lucky McKee’s Midnight Madness entry All Cheerleaders Die represented by Modernciné kicks off the avalanche at the Ryerson Theatre on Thursday Sept 5 after the 8pm world premiere of DreamWorks’ The Fifth Estate at Roy Thompson Hall.

Friday will offer the first viewing of Alex Aja’s fantasy horror Horns starring Daniel Radcliffe at 6pm at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. Wme touts Us rights, Vvs Films will release in Canada and financier Red Granite co-produced with Mandalay Pictures and handles international sales.

That same day brings world premieres for the Kristen Wiig-Guy Pearce drama Hateship Loveship shepherded by UTA and Evolution in the Us and sold internationally by The Weinstein Company. It premieres at 2.30pm at the Princess Of Wales, followed at 6.30pm...

The titles just keep coming as we are now just over three weeks away from the start of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and they have gone and added 90 new feature length titles to the program and it's not as if they are titles you haven't heard of. New to the Galas selection is Guillaume Canet's Blood Ties which premiered at Cannes earlier this year (read my review here) and Words and Pictures starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. In the Special Presentations selection you find the bulk of the more noted titles including Alex Gibney's new documentary The Armstrong Lie about cyclist Lance Armstrong, Johnnie To's Blind Detective which also premiered at Cannes, James Franco's Child of God based on the Cormac McCarthy novel, John Turturro's Fading Gigolo which features Woody Allen in one of the roles, Kevin Macdonald's How I Live Now...

Back in the fall of 2011, director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intruders, 28 Weeks Later) was hired to direct Summit Entertainment's film reboot of the fan favorite franchise Highlander. Since then, Ryan Reynolds became attached to lead the film, but late last year Fresnadillo fell away from the project, and now The Wrap reports the film is without a leading man as well. The Green Lantern star has reportedly backed out of the production as well, leaving producers Neal Moritz and Peter Davis to start all over. Reynolds' departure comes after Summit wasn't able to find a replacement for Fresnadillo quickly enough. However, the good news here is that Summit might actually have an easier time finding a director now that they can cast a new lead to their liking. The question is who can step into the shoes once filled by Christopher Lambert? The lead character is that of an immortal...

Ryan Reynolds might look like an immortal, but he won’t be playing one in the new Highlander remake after all. Reynolds had been attached to star as Connor MacLeod, a legendary Scottish warrior who’s fought rival gladiators throughout the ages. (Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, and some Queen tunes rocked the 1986 original, a cult fave that made only $5.9 million in theaters.) Summit Entertainment is resurrecting the property, and it thought it had the goods with Reynolds and director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later). But Fresnadillo dropped out of the project last fall, and no new director had come aboard.

In “hey, I’ll give these guys a shot at this” news, Deadline reports that 28 Weeks Later and Intruders director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, newbie screenwriter Joshua Zetumer (he just penned the new Robocop remake), and Even Stevens and Holes star Shia Labeouf are set to team up on Zetumer’s Villain. Fresnadillo will direct (uh, of course) the psychological thriller that “follows two brothers who mysteriously re-connect in an unforgiving wilderness.” Labeouf will play one of the brothers (the villain?), with the other brother role reportedly set to be cast soon. For now, that’s all we know about the project, but that tantalizing bit of plot information is certainly rich with possibility. Obviously, there’s still a lot that could go wrong with this one, and much of the film’s success will depend on who they get to star opposite Labeouf (perhaps his Orphans replacement Ben Foster?), an actor who seems to be screaming out...

Shia Labeouf receives a lot of flack for his personal antics, and deservedly so, but there’s no denying that he’s a good actor and as demonstrated in The Company You Keep, he’s still a compelling screen presence. Today, Deadline is telling us that Labeouf will be adding another project to his slate in the form of the indie film Villain.

Based on the Black List script by Josh Zetumer (who also penned the Robocop reboot), the film will follow “a man confronted and tortured in the mountains by his brother, who blames him for having his kids taken away by social services.” David Slade was originally set to direct but now Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, best known for 28 Weeks Later, will helm the picture.

The film will be sold at Cannes this week so we assume that more casting news will follow shortly. For now though, there’s...

Deadline reports that 28 Weeks Later director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will direct Shia Labeouf in Villain, a psychological thriller by Robocop (2014) scribe Josh Zeturner.

The film follow two brothers who mysteriously reconnect while in the wilderness.

The role of the other brother will be cast shortly, according to Deadline.

Labeouf most recently appeared in The Company You Keep (2012) with Robert Redford and in The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman (2013).

Fresnadillo last directed Clive Owen in a movie called Intruders (2011) about children who are visited nightly by a faceless being who wants to possess them.

They could stand to come up with a more original title…

Excited for this one at all?

Source: Deadline...

As it's bubbled through development, psychological thriller Villain has seen more than one director come and go. Now the film has apparently locked in 28 Weeks Later’s Juan Carlos Fresnadillo to call the shots and Shia Labeouf is set to star.Written by Josh Zetumer (who worked on the script for the RoboCop reboot), Villain follows two brothers (Labeouf will be one; the other is still to be cast) who venture into the unforgiving wilds of Alaska to confront their dark past. Estranged for a long time, they hope the trip will help them bond once more, but clearly they get more than they bargained for. If only they’d watched Sean Penn’s Into The Wild before heading out…David Slade was on board to direct last year, but has since dropped out thanks to his busy schedule.Labeouf will next be seen in Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep,...

Following his debut feature Intact, Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo rose fast, landing the helming gig on the eagerly anticipated horror-thriller 28 Weeks Later. After receiving positive reviews for that one, Fresnadillo burned much of his good will with critics on the insipid horror offering Intruders, which was widely scorned. But Fresnadillo has scored a second chance as well as a noteworthy leading man for his next effort. Deadline reports Start Motion Pictures (formerly Wayfare Entertainment) has hired Fresnadillo to helm Villain, a psychological thriller meant as a vehicle for Shia Labeouf. Penned by Josh Zetumer, the film will star Labeouf as one of two brothers who reunite under mysterious circumstances in a merciless wilderness. At this time, there's no word on who might fill the role other brother. But as Wild Bunch will be selling the pic at Cannes in the coming days, we expect an announcement on that front...

A remote cabin in the woods becomes a blood-soaked chamber of horrors when a group of 20-something friends unwittingly awakens an ancient demon in Evil Dead, the highly anticipated reboot of Sam Raimi’s 1981 cult-hit horror film The Evil Dead.

In theaters April 5th and featuring a fresh young cast, Evil Dead is a bone-chilling film that combines all the raw excitement and gleeful gore of the acclaimed original with a series of shocking new twists.

Mia (Jane Levy), a young woman whose life has been marred by loss and addiction, asks her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), his girlfriend Natalie (Elizabeth Blackmore) and their childhood friends Olivia (Jessica Lucas) and Eric (Lou Taylor Pucci) to join her at the family’s rustic cabin to help her overcome her demons. Once there, she ceremoniously destroys the last of her stash and swears off drugs for good in front of her friends.

Bioshock creator Ken Levine is finally elaborating a bit more on a 2011 statement that 'there's no burning [desire] to have a movie made just to get it made.' To summarize the sorted history, there was deal struck back in 2008 between Universal and 2K Games to adapt the video game Bioshock into a feature film with Gore Verbinski( Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Lone Ranger) attached to direct a script from John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator, The Last Samurai, Rango,Hugo, Lincoln, Skyfall). Verbinski left the project and Universal brought in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later, Intruders) to direct. The film languished in development hell for quite some time because 2k Games retained creative control over the direction of the film and they didn't like what they were seeing and hearing. Below, Levine goes into greater detail about the sticking points. There was a...

Despite the fact that our country has been drooping all over in the education department, cinema rarely offers a scathing, true-to-life look at how twisted schooling systems can be. Perhaps it.s still a taboo area to throw criticism, since it reveals something about everyone from the student to the government funding it. One of Hollywood.s next novel adaptations will be a good step in the scandalous direction. According to Variety, international sales are going on for Richard Levine.s Blue Angel adapted from Francine Prose.s wicked novel of the same name, which stars Clive Owen in the leading role. Owen.s career has been steady, with the action Killer Elite and the creepy Spanish horror Intruders as two of his more recent efforts. He.ll soon be seen in the brotherly Brooklyn crime drama Blood Ties. None of that sounds anything like what his Blue Angel character...

Game of Thrones star Carice van Houten has a role in Bill Condon‘s untitled Wikileaks movie about Julian Assange at DreamWorks.

Dutch actress Van Houten plays Birgitta Jonsdottir who has been an activist and a spokesperson for various groups, such as Wikileaks. Besides, a former WikiLeaks volunteer Jonsdottir is a real-life member of the Althing, the Icelandic parliament.

Van Houten joins British star Benedict Cumberbatch, Spanish-born German thesp Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) and Swedish starlet Alicia Vikander (Anna Karenina) .

The upcoming film, scribed by Josh Singer, stars Cumberbatch as Assange who launched the whistleblowing site in 2006 and began antagonizing world governments by leaking embarrassing diplomatic cables and other state secrets; Bruhl plays his now-estranged right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg, and Vikander appears as Domscheit-Berg’s co-worked and girlfriend.

Domscheit-Berg’s book ‘Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange at the World’s Most Dangerous Website’ will serve as the basis...

Described as "Band of Brothers" meets "The Walking Dead," War of the Dead is hitting Blu-ray and DVD just after the first of the new year from Entertainment One, and we have all the info you need on the film right here, including a trailer and some stills.

From the Press Release:

The "March of the Undead" continues from Entertainment One, home of all things that shamble with War of the Dead (UK DVD review here), an epic mashup of zombie and war films! In the record books as the most expensive film to ever be shot in Lithuania, it's certain to give you your fix if you're the kinda person who just can't resist a zombie in uniform. Could there be a better film to start off the New Year with?

The film is directed by Marko Mäkilaakso and stars Andrew Tiernan (300; The Pianist; Lock, Stock and Two Smoking...

Today in our Indie Beat section, we've got a DVD/Blu-Ray release date for an upcoming zombie flick called War of the Dead.  The main catch here being it's set up more as a war film (Band of Brothers style) but with tons of zombies thrown in.

Here at TheMoviePool we like to talk about all aspects of filmmaking and movie news. To that end, we have Indie Beat where we highlight some of the latest news, trailers, and PR releases from the indie filmmaker scene.  So if you're an independent filmmaker and want some coverage on our site, be sure to drop us a line at jordan@themoviepool.com . 

If a Band of Brothers style drama spiced up with zombies sounds like it's right up your alley, then you're in luck.  War of the Dead launches on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 8, 2013, so it's a great way to start of your year.

Today in our Indie Beat section, we've got a DVD/Blu-Ray release date for an upcoming zombie flick called War of the Dead.  The main catch here being it's set up more as a war film (Band of Brothers style) but with tons of zombies thrown in.

Here at TheMoviePool we like to talk about all aspects of filmmaking and movie news. To that end, we have Indie Beat where we highlight some of the latest news, trailers, and PR releases from the indie filmmaker scene.  So if you're an independent filmmaker and want some coverage on our site, be sure to drop us a line at jordan@themoviepool.com . 

If a Band of Brothers style drama spiced up with zombies sounds like it's right up your alley, then you're in luck.  War of the Dead launches on DVD and Blu-Ray on January 8, 2013, so it's a great way to start of your year.

Remember that “Highlander” remake that literally nobody was crying out for, that may or may not be set to star everyone’s favorite alliterative actor Ryan Rodney Reynolds? Well, it looks like Summit is now going to be looking for a new director to shepherd the project. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”) had been on board for over a year (after departing another remake, “The Crow”) but has now left the project after battling with Summit over their views on the film. Fresnadillo has had a somewhat tumultuous time since directing his last movie, “Intruders.” As well as his involvement with "The Crow" he was attached to direct a planned "Bioshock" movie with Gore Verbinski producing, but that also didn’t come to pass. His exit from "Highlander" is said to be amicable, but clearly the direction he wanted to take the project in differed from Summit’s plan. “I find the concept.

There can be only one director … Summit just wishes it can hand onto them. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”, and more recently, the Clive Owen supernatural tale “Intruders”) is the latest candidate to direct Summit’s “Highlander” reboot who has now taken a flyer on the gig after spending a year trying to get it going. The culprit? Creative differences. Or in this case, a differing of visions between the director and the studio. Ironically, Fresnadillo bailed on the reboot of “The Crow”, a film that is finding an equally hard time holding onto its directors, to do “Highlander”. “Highlander”, of course, is the story of a bunch of immortal guys who goes around the world trying to lop off each other’s heads, decapitation being the only sure way to kill one of these guys. Ryan Reynolds is still attached to star, with the reboot expected to somewhat follow...

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intruders) is parting ways with Summit Entertainment's Highlander remake. Ryan Reynolds is still attached to star.

The filmmaker first signed on last September, after Justin Lin bowed out to make The Fast and the Furious 6. The director left due to creative differences with the studio, who both had differing takes on the project. Iron Man writers Art Marcum and Matt Holloway wrote the screenplay, with Neal H. Moritz, Peter S. Davis, Enrique L&#243pez Lavigne and Bel&#233n Atienza producing.

The story centers on Connor McLeod (Ryan Reynolds), a Scotsman who is among the last of immortal warriors known as Highlanders, who can only die if their heads are cut off. It isn't clear if there are any front runners to replace Juan Carlos Fresnadillo at this time.

Highlander comes to theaters in 2014 and stars Ryan Reynolds. The film is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

Filming in London is just coming to an end on Kick-Ass 2, the much anticipated sequel to 2010 cult favourite Kick-Ass.

Chloe Moretz, now aged 15, returns as Hit Girl, alongside fellow returnees Aaron Johnson as Kick-Ass and Christopher Mintz-Plasse as villain Red Mist, and they are joined by some young British stars.

Daniel Kaluuya (represented by Troika), plays Black Death, part of the gang of villains led by 'The Mother F*cker' (formerly Red Mist). Daniel starred in BBC Three's The Fades, and will also be seen in up-coming crime thriller Welcome To The Punch.

Augustus Prew (represented by The Rights House) plays Todd, replacing Evan Peters in the role of Dave Lizewski's (Aaron Johnson) best friend. Augustus stars as Alfonso in The Borgias and will next be seen alongside fellow young Brit Lucy Boynton in Copperhead.

Newcomer Tanya Fear (represented by Identity Agency Group), in her first feature film role,...

Special Mention: The Fake Trailers from Grindhouse (2007, USA): The four fake trailers featured in the otherwise disappointing Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino double-feature: Machete by Robert Rodriguez, Werewolf Women of the SS by Rob Zombie, Thanksgiving by Eli Roth and Don’t by Edgar Wright-are all very entertaining trips down horror/exploitation film memory lane and are easily the best part of the film.

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2) Other Notable Horror Films Of The 2000’s:

This list focuses on films that are partially successful and even touch on brilliance at times but ultimately don’t pull everything together to fully deliver on their promise.

Intacto (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, 2001, Spain):

This film about a group of people blessed with supernatural good luck has a great premise, several great scenes-the revelation of the plane crash early in the film, the blindfolded race through the trees and the Russian roulette climax-plus the welcome presence of...

Some casting news for you today.  Check out the info in brief below: Clive Owen (Children of Men) will team up with The Sitter writers Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka for their directorial debut comedy, The King of the Castle. Patrick Wilson (Insidious) and Liv Tyler (Armageddon) join an ensemble cast in the sci-fi dramatic comedy, Space Station 76, written and directed by Jack Plotnick. Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) will join the Canadian French-language indie, Tom a la Ferme, from director/star Xavier Dolan (Laurence Anyways). Hit the jump for more on each picture.  First up from the La Times comes word that Owen will star in the Gatewood/Tanaka directorial debut The King of the Castle.  Owen stars as a philanderer who is caught during one of his extramarital affairs and blackmailed by a teenager.  The comedy strikes a different note for Owen, who lately has been...

It was only a few weeks ago news hit that Fox was in search of a new director for its sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes after director Rupert Wyatt left the project. The studio's short list for his replacement was reportedly limited to Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later, Intruders) and Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy). And while there are some big names on that list, reportedly there was only one front-runner all along and he's just signed on the dotted line. Matt Reeves will direct Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Since Fox is full-steam ahead on the property, presumably this is pushing aside several of the other high-profile films Reeves was attached to, like The Twilight Zone and This...

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Following last week’s dream list of filmmakers touted for the director’s chair on Fox’s Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Matt Reeves has now been confirmed as the man for the job. If you recall, the project suffered the loss of original director Rupert Wyatt not too long ago. He left after fearing that he would be unable to deliver the completed film by the imposed studio deadline.

Reeves has the clout to bring his unique skills to the Dawn of The Planet Of The Apes after the successes of Cloverfield and Let Me In. Both of those titles delved into sci-fi/horror subject matter (monster take over, vampires) usually tackled on a major scale by focusing on the characters at the heart of those stories.

This latest instalment has the potential to continue on that trend of placing the audience into the story through its...

About a week ago, it was revealed that Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt might be backing out of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to the 2011 hit sci-fi film.  At that time, it was a rumor.  But now, it seems all but official: Rupert Wyatt will not be returning to direct the next entry in the Apes franchise.  And Fox, always prepared, has a shortlist of directors to replace him.

The news courtesy of Deadline, who got the exclusive on this shortlist of directors. Without further ado, here are the guys:

-Matt Reeves, director of Cloverfield and Let Me In

-Jeff Nichols, director of Take Shelter and Mud

-Guillermo Del Toro, director of Hellboy and Pacific Rim

-Juan Antonio Bayona, director of The Orphanage and The Impossible

-Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director of Intruders and 28 Weeks Later

-...

After Rupert Wyatt departed from Fox’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the studio began the hunt for a new director. Seeing as the film is the sequel to a rather successful and very well reviewed reboot, we knew that directors would be lining up to ask for the job.

Today, only a few days after Wyatt left, we have the director shortlist for the film and it includes some very appealing names. As The Film Stage reports, Cloverfield helmer Matt Reeves is apparently the top choice but he’s followed closely by Guillermo del Toro, Looper‘s Rian Johnson, The Disappearance of Alice Creed‘s J Blakeson, Intruders‘ Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, The Impossible‘s Juan Antonio Bayona and finally, Take Shelter‘s Jeff Nichols.

With a May 23rd, 2014 release date set, whoever comes on board is going to have to get to work fast. As it is,...

20th Century Fox was dealt a blow last week when Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt pulled out of the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Today, we have word that the studio is looking at Matt Reeves (Let Me In), J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intruders), and Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) to step in at the helm.

It is said that Matt Reeves is at the top of the studio's short list, although the others are still in contention. The filmmakers will meet with Fox production president Emma Watts in the near future.

Rupert Wyatt reportedly stepped away from the follow-up because he wasn't comfortable with meeting the May 26, 2014 release date Fox had already set. Studio execs are pleased with the screenplay draft that was turned in by Rise of the Planet of the Apes writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Intruders has perhaps one twist too many. Actually, it has a couple of twists piled on top of one central twist concerning two children in different countries being menaced by what seems to be a supernatural presence. Nicolás Casariego and Jaime Marques' screenplay does something strange by the end: it actually removes the stakes of everything that came before with its trio of revelations that at first test and then demolish any credulity the movie had built up by that point. I'll try not to spoil Intruders, although it takes a while before Fresnadillo's film takes any kind of shape that's worth describing. We're initially introduced to Juan (Izán Corchero) a young Spanish boy who, on one rainy night, comes under...

I’ve been looking forward to Intruders ever since I watched the first trailer. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) isn’t exactly a visionary director like the film bills him as, but he is good at approaching films with style and consistent moods. 28 Weeks Later was a sequel that actually lived up to the hype of 28 Days Later and yet somehow in his latest horror/thriller Intruders he throws all of that away in exchange for a horror film without scares, originality or a pulse.

There’s a spooky faceless monster that has been haunting the daughter of John Farrow (Clive Owen). He’s tried helping his daughter remedy the situation, but each night she still gets a visit from this unwelcomed friend. Things get even spookier once John sees this faceless creature. He’s not sure if he’s going completely crazy or not, so he installs a...

Believe it or not, it's actually a pretty packed week for DVD and Blu-ray releases, maybe not so much in terms of quality but definitely in terms of quantity. Some of the bigger titles out this week include The Farrelly Brothers' The Three Stooges, Lockout starring Guy Pearce, and Mel Gibson's new Dtv flick Get the Gringo, but looking beyond that we also have Will Ferrell's Spanish telenovela parody Casa de mi Padre, Abel Ferrara's 4:44 Last Day on Earth and the star-studded indie comedy Friends With Kids, not to mention Nacho Vigalondo's sci-fi rom-com Extraterrestrial and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Intruders starring Clive Owen. Older flicks debuting on Blu-ray include Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets, Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law and the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers. We also have 60th Anniversary Editions of Singin' in the Rain and High Noon and a...

Moviefone's New Release Pick of the Week "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen" What's It About? A stuffy fisheries expert (Ewan McGregor) is sent on the bizarre mission to bring the sport of fly-fishing to Yemen, all paid for by a sheik. See It Because: This is about as far from your typical rom-com as you can get. A pleasant surprise from beginning to end, the movie is funny, charming and not derivative at all. We also reveled in the comedic performances of Ewan McGregor, Emily Blunt and Kristin Scott Thomas. (Also Available on Redbox | Amazon Instant Video) Moviefone's Blu-ray Pick of the Week "Singin' In the Rain" 60th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition What's It About? The beloved Gene Kelly-starring musical concerns a blossoming Hollywood romance between a leading man and a chorus girl, amidst the transition from silent films to "talkie" pictures. See It Because: You've never seen "Singin' in the Rain...