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‘Annabelle: Creation’: The Horror News Network Review

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The first Annabelle film, a spin-off from the critically and financially successful The Conjuring, is an interesting case study.  Like its source material, the first Annabelle film raked in the dough, with $84 million domestically and an unbelievable $257 million worldwide (I guess creepy dolls is the second international language).  Unlike the Conjuring however, the film took a beating on Rotten Tomatoes (finishing up with a score of 29%) and while fans showed up in droves initially, the audience quickly tailed off in the States, and the negative buzz did not bode well for a sequel to the film. In spite of this, Annabelle: Creation is a surprisingly entertaining film that has much more in common with first Conjuring film than its predecessor or last year’s sequel to the Conjuring. read more

‘Annabelle: Creation’ Director David F. Sandberg: The Horror News Network Interview

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The original Conjuring spin-off Annabelle was a massive world-wide financial success (earning over $256,000,000), but was less successful with critics and fans.  When the inevitable sequel was announced, most discerning horror fans were not very interested, until director David F. Sandberg came on board the project.  Sandberg impressed many horror fans with his debut feature Lights Out which became one of the sleeper hits of the summer movie season of 2016, and it looks as if history will repeat itself this summer on August 11th when Annabelle: Creation is released.  David took some time from a busy promotional schedule to talk to us about his current film, what he learned from Lights Out, and his upcoming DC Universe film Shazam (scheduled for a 2019 release.) read more

Warner Bros. Releases Second Official Trailer for ‘Annabelle: Creation’

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Warner Bros. studio have begun building hype for this summer’s Annabelle: Creation by screening the film for early critical reviews and releasing a new trailer for public consumption.

2014’s Annabelle was never a critical darling. It earned a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score of just 29%. This time, the studio attempted to “have its cake and eat it too” by hiring David F. Sandberg (Lights Out) to direct the picture. Based on the early reviews, this decision may have slightly improved the quality of the franchise. Variety opined, “Despite being stuck with a lame script, Lights Out director David F. Sandberg manages to conjure some effective scares in New Line’s demon-doll prequel.” Still not great, but certainly better than before! read more

Lights Out, Annabelle 2 Director David Sandberg In Talks to Direct Shazam Movie for New Line

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Swedish director David Sandberg is on the fast track to becoming a major force in Hollywood. First, his film Lights Out earned nearly $149 million worldwide on a budget of just $4.9 million. His next film, this summer’s highly-anticipated Annabelle 2, has dollar signs written all over it (the first Annabelle earned almost $257 million worldwide on a $6.5 million budget). And now he’s in talks to break into the highly lucrative world of big budget superhero movies!

Variety reports that Sandberg is in talks with New Line to direct a film based on the popular DC Comics superhero Captain Marv… ahem… Shazam!  read more

Horror Movies Are Secretly Saving Hollywood’s Major Film Studios

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What do four of the six highest grossing major film studios of 2016 have in common? They each released a horror film that made enough money to compensate for another big budget box office flop on their roster.

Hollywood accounting is “creative” to say the least, but the general rule of thumb is that a tentpole film needs to earn two times its estimated budget worldwide in order to outweigh production and marketing expenses and begin to make money.

According to Box Office Mojo, Sony’s The Magnificent Seven earned approximately $160.4 million on an estimated budget of $90 million. Ghostbusters (2016) earned approximately $229 million on an estimated budget of $144 million.  read more

Too Much Horror Business: Box Office Winners and Losers of 2016

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Although October 2016’s slate of horror films were at an all time low, this didn’t stop studios from making money at the your local cinema at other times of the year.  2016 was another profitable year for horror films, with the exception of a few high profile bombs. 

The undisputed horror box office champ was The Conjuring 2.  James Wan’s sequel to his 2013 film that showcased the further adventures of renowned ghost hunters, Ed and Loraine Warren, raked in $102.5 million domestically, and $320.2 million worldwide.  The largest foreign market happened to be Mexico, where the Conjuring 2 made $20.5 million.  Although the film was not the critical success of Wan’s first film, it appears like there is no stopping this franchise, whether Wan returns to the director’s chair or not. read more

DVD & Blu-ray Releases: October 25, 2016

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DVD & Blu-ray Releases: October 25, 2016

This week’s releases includes the James Wan’s produced Lights Out, Shout Factory’s Collector’s Edition of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III and a 17-Disc Limited Edition Box Set of The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast. You can view the complete list of this week’s horror releases below.

Lights Out

Starring:  Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander Dipersia, Billy Burke, Maria Bello

Synopsis: When her little brother, Martin, experiences the same events that once tested her sanity, Rebecca works to unlock the truth behind the terror, which brings her face to face with an entity that has an attachment to their mother, Sophie. read more

LIGHTS OUT Trailer

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We have a trailer for David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out. James Wan produces the film, which stars Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, with Billy Burke and Maria Bello. You can view the trailer below.

LIGHTS OUT

In theaters on July 22

(New Line Cinema)

Director: David F. Sandberg

Writer: Screenplay by Eric Heisserer, based on the short film by David F. Sandberg

Producers: James Wan, Lawrence Grey, Eric Heisserer

Executive Producers: Walter Hamada, Dave Neustadter, Richard Brener, Michael Clear, Jack Murray, Ben Everard read more