Director Holds Out Hope for 'Bloody Valentine' Sequel

Last month, director Patrick Lussier said that Lionsgate had zero interest in a sequel to My Bloody Valentine. No offense meant to Lionsgate - or maybe there is - but that's just a stupid move. This is a company that has a very hard time manufacturing hits, and Valentine more than tripled its budget. You give that movie a sequel.

But that was last month and now Lussier is softening his stance. "I think right now, they’ll wait to see how it does on DVD," he tells Arrow in the Head. "It’s not something they want to do right this instant but it may be something they want to do down the road.” Lussier says he'd jump at the chance to return to the franchise, and he even has part two all mapped out. "The sequel that we wanted to do is a stronger story than the original," Lussier admits. "Even though you know who the killer is, it has twists and turns that you don't expect, even knowing who the killer is."

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'I Saw What You' Remade

I don't think I need to mention that I liked My Bloody Valentine 3-D to our regular readers. It's still one of the guilty pleasures of this year. Now the writer-director combo of that remake is set to take on another rather middling suspense flick, with Variety reporting that Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer will dust off the 1960s movie I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are!

The original starred Joan Crawford, although the story was more about a pair of teenagers making prank calls and whispering into the receiver, "I know what you did." It's all good natured fun until the teens call a man who has just murdered his wife. Crawford played the murderer's neighbor and it was not a particularly good role for the faded Oscar winner.

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Lionsgate Won't Make 'Bloody Valentine' Sequel

You really do have to scratch your head at some of the things Lionsgate does. We've detailed some of the company's bizarre moves - like buying the completely antiquated TV Guide network for $250 million at the first of the year - and the studio has certainly had some bizarre release patterns over the years.

But Lionsgate has also given us one of the true guilty pleasures of the year, My Bloody Valentine 3D. It's not a great movie but it's very good gory fun and the 3D speaks for itself. The movie was also profitable, taking in over $60 million worldwide against a reported $15 million budget. So what does Lionsgate do? Why, naturally, it declines to make a sequel. Director Patrick Lussier told a confederate of Bloody Disgusting that the studio has "zero interest" in returning to the story.

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Lionsgate President On His Way Out

Updated on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 3:45PM by Get The Big Picture

Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that Lionsgate President of Theatrical Films Tom Ortenberg may be leaving the company soon. He is apparently wrapping up a one-year option on his previous deal with the company in a few months.

About a month ago, we told you that an investment bank was warning its customers to stay away from Lionsgate in the short term. That analyst also said a lot of the company's fortunes were riding on My Bloody Valentine 3-D, which has done pretty well. I can't believe anyone involved would have expected a great deal more from that flick, at any rate.

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Box Office: 'Underworld' Wins Friday, 'Slumdog' A Multi-Millionaire

A few observations about the Friday night box office numbers: Inkheart is a bomb, My Bloody Valentine might be something of a cult hit, and Universal missed a great window of opportunity with Frost/Nixon. And that doesn't even touch on the big stories, including another number one finish for an Underworld movie and Slumdog Millionaire cashing in on its Oscar nomiations.

Yes, Underworld is headed for a number one finish, a little softer than expected, though, with an estimated $8 million on Friday. Slumdog Millionaire will probably finish in the top five, because Fox Searchlight expanded the film's run into 1,000 theaters this weekend, one day after it received ten Oscar nominations. Whether or not it wins Best Picture, Slumdog is still the Oscar hopeful with the most forward momentum at the box office. More on that in a minute... Paul Blart and Gran Torino finished Friday behind Underworld, and My Bloody Valentine was right there with them, headed for another $10 million this weekend, with another $20 million or so left to earn. Not a huge hit but certainly profitable, proving that for all the things Lionsgate may do wrong, that studio sure is tuned into its horror audience.

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