Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 8:58PM New Sleuth Of Horror Sequel-itis... 'Amityville' and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' in 3D!
Who's ready for more 'Amityville Horror'?
About a week ago, right here on GTBP, I wrote about the lack of horror films traditionally released in the long wintery months of 2011. Now, I believe the world is making me eat my words with a new slate of several horror remakes... and coming to a theater in 3D!
This includes remakes of the Weinstein's films when they were at Miramax and are now co-productions between Dimension Films (which is part of The Weinstein Company) and Miramax (which is at Warner Bros.) are teaming up for The Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes with a tentative January 27th, 2012 release date. Utilizing the recent popularity of the "found footage" format, Deadline reports:
"The pic uses the genre staple of "found footage" to tap into the mythology of the book that informed the original haunted house movie, which dates back to 1976, when George Lutz moves his family into and out of a house where the previous tenants were murdered by their son, Ronald DeFeo, who claimed he was possessed. "An ambitious female television news intern, on the verge of breaking the most famous haunted house case in the world, leads a team of journalists, clergymen and paranormal researchers into an investigation of the bizarre events that will come to be known as The Amityville Horror, only to unwittingly open a door to the unreal that she may never be able to close," is the logline. Paranormal Activity's Jason Blum is producing with Casey La Scala and Daniel Farrands, and Bob and Harvey Weinstein are the exec producers."
Not thinking about the remakes a few years back of The Amityville Horror (starring Ryan Renolds) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (starring Jessica Biel) a few years back, Hollywood hasn't thought there's enough of these remakes. Fangoria reports that there's another project at Hannibal Classics: AMITYVILLE: THE LEGACY 3D.
The most recent of the sequel-itis.It's based on the book AMITYVILLE: THE EVIL ESCAPES by John G. Jones which inspired a 1989 TV movie by the same name. Its schedule to conclude production in October 2012 (and with a more-than-likely early 2013 release date). This would also further reporting from Fangoria that includes the sequel/remake/i-don't-what-to-call-it-anymore: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3-D or, what-its-been-known-as, Leatherface 3D. It's actually been described as a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper's 1974 classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And with the twist that would play on the idea of "What would you do if you found out your cousin was Leatherface, and he was now YOURS?" (from Bloody Disgusting).
Oy! The production will be housed at Lionsgate and a partnership with Nu Images. Not only that but, the actors who would be in the film as "Heather" and "Leatherface" would be locked in a contract for multiple sequels.
Is that good enough for you? Well not me and this is one of the problems i hadn't fully explained. I was trying to say that any original concepts, which can be intended for massive Hollywood hit box-office wise or critically has lost all hope. They'll make some decent cash to warrant a sequel but, their quality will surely suffer. I know it's that studio execs play it safe with a built-in brand name that has an audience but, will moviegoers get tired?
Look at A Nightmare on Elm Street with Jackie Earl Haley . Nobody needed it to be remade and based on my viewing, it wasn't any good as far as narrative and production values go. Although Haley did provide a new take on Freddy Krueger that wasn't so ill-conceived, not that it makes a difference for a money-making business. We can't expect studios to make quality pictures but, we sure as hell should demand it by showing them that these remakes and re-imagines aren't worth it.
I don't want to be one of those "originality is dead" people but, when this kind of news makes you angry its there for a reason. What do you think?
Source: Deadline
Reader Comments (2)
Addendum: I overlooked that GTBP had posted an article announcing Texas Chainsaw 3D had been greenlit. I also wanted to add to that list of 3D remakes that Lionsgate and Weinstein Company are remaking: Cube 3D and The Crow.
I hope that you as a reader and as a movie watcher have noticed this trend and hope that soon enough sequel-itis will be a thing of the past.
D&B DNB +1.57% is the world's leading source of commercial information and insight on businesses, enabling companies to Decide with Confidence(R) for 170 years.chanel handbags for sale D&B's global commercial database contains more than 200 million business records. The database is enhanced by D&B's proprietary DUNSRight(R) Quality Process, which provides our customers with quality business information. This quality information is the foundation of our global solutions that customers rely on to make critical business decisions.