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‘Invisible Man’ Trailer Now Visible

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Fans of Universal Monsters may want to disappear after watching the first trailer for Leigh Whannell’s (Saw, Insidious) adaptation of the 1933 James Whale film, starring Claude Rains as the robe wearing mastermind.

Judging by the trailer, it appears that Blumhouse has gone the teen horror route with Invisible Man, veering as far away from the failed attempt at a new Universal Monsters franchise, 2017’s disastrous The Mummy.  Last January, Variety reported that  the new Universal Monsters films would succeed “By not mandating a unified, connected universe of monster stories, the studio will be able to open up the characters to filmmakers who will be inspired to create their own unique stories.” read more

Director Craig Zobel Responds to the Cancellation of ‘The Hunt’

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Universal’s abrupt cancellation of their upcoming Blumhouse production, The Hunt, surprised many in the film industry, none more so than its director Craig Zobel

A week after the decision to cancel the film’s release, Zobel told Variety that “If I believed this film could incite violence, I wouldn’t have made it.  Our ambition was to poke at both sides of the aisle equally.  We seek to entertain and unify, not enrage and divide.  It is up to the viewers to decide what their takeaway will be.” read more

‘Creepshow’ Coming to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood

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Hot on the heels of Shudder’s upcoming Creepshow series, Universal Hollywood has just announced that the anthology scarefest will make its Halloween Horror Nights debut at this year’s event.

According to the official video, fans will “experience a horror comic book come to life!  Your host for this horrifying journey is The Creep, the skeletal namesake of the Creepshow comic book, who will lead you through five jolting tales of terror inspired by the classic 1982 horror anthology and the upcoming Shudder series from horror legend Greg Nicotero.  It’s the most fun you’ll ever have being scared!” read more

Universal Confirms Two More ‘Halloween’ Films

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In a huge announcement for film fans the world over, Universal Studios has confirmed that we will be getting at least two more movies full of Michael Myers. Deadline has reported today that October 16th, 2020 is the official release date for Halloween Kills and October 15th, 2021 will be the date for Halloween Ends.

Jamie Lee Curtis will be back in the role of Laurie Strode while Danny McBride and David Gordon Green will be working on the script. Both films will be directed by Green and produced by Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block. While John Carpenter is listed as an executive producer, there is no work yet on what other roles he will have in the next installments. read more

‘Ma’ Continues to Impress at Box Office; ‘Godzilla: King of The Monsters’ Flames Out

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While Universal’s Ma won’t reach the financial heights of Godzilla: King of Monsters, when all is said and done this summer, the Octavia Spencer lead thriller may be the more profitable of the two films.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters fell into fourth place, dropping the entire length of a skyscraper (a -67.5% drop from last week) for an estimated $15.5 million in its second weekend.  For comparison’s sake, 2014’s relaunch dropped a similar amount, but it also made over $30 million during its second weekend of release.  This fact could hinder the sequel’s chance for $100 million in the domestic market which currently stands at $78.6 million. read more

‘Happy Death Day 2U’ Finishes Fifth at Weekend Box Office

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While many predicted a better showing for Happy Death Day 2U, the film ended up in fifth place at the weekend box office with roughly $10 million in ticket sales ($13.5 since it was released on Wednesday).  This total is $16 million less than the original film made in its opening 3-day weekend frame back in 2017.

Every movie studio ended up being disappointed this weekend, as it was the worst three-day President’s Day weekend for ticket sales since 2004.  Chief among the underachievers was Alita: Battle Angel, whose lofty expectations never materialized (in first place with $36.5 million since Thursday), falling victim to the same inflated tracking numbers that sank The Lego Movie 2 last week (which finished second at the box office with $21.2 million).  While the turnout for all films this weekend was low, there may need to be less emphasis put on tracking and social media awareness for upcoming films, as both measures have proven to be wildly inaccurate in 2019 and have so far created unrealistic expectations for new releases this year. read more

English-Language Remake of ‘Goodnight Mommy’ In The Works

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Underground Austrian hit Goodnight Mommy will soon undergo the English-language treatment.  According to Deadline, the 2014 psychological thriller with the supernatural twist will be remade in English and co-produced by studios Animal Kingdom and Playtime.  Matt Sobel (2015’s critically-acclaimed Take Me To The River) has been attached to direct.

Goodnight Mommy focuses on two twin brothers who must deal with their mother and her heavily-bandaged face as a result of a recent plastic surgery procedure.  As they interact more and more, it becomes clear to one of the twins that underneath the mask of gauze lies someone other than their mother.  The film won critical applause after its North American premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and continued to win over audiences worldwide as distribution spread.  It was directed by the German team of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, who would go on to work with Universal for another of their projects (entitled The Fortress) shortly afterwards.  Franz and Fiala will be involved in the remake of Goodnight Mommy as executive producers. read more

‘The First Purge’ Earns $31 Million at Box Office

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It was an uphill battle for The First Purge, but Universal’s riotous film was still able to manage fourth place at a very competitive (and profitable) summer box office weekend.  The fourth film in the franchise raked in $17 million this weekend, bringing The First Purge’s total to $31 million for the Independence Day week (the film opened on Wednesday).

How does this entry stack up against the previous films?  The weekend box office is the softest in the franchise’s history, but this is certainly due to the early opening.  The film will most likely pass the original Purge’s worldwide totals ($89.3 million), but the film will be hard pressed to top either The Purge: Anarchy or The Purge: Election Night.  Reaching the fourth film in any franchise is certainly an accomplishment, but it does get more and more difficult to lure ticket buyers back to the theater.  Universal made the smart move to inject some life into the series by hiring new director Gerard McMurray (and you can read an interview with the director right here), but it might not be enough to cement the film’s solvency going forward. read more

Colin Trevorrow to Return to the Director’s Chair for ‘Jurassic World 3’

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Colin Trevorrow may not have directed this summer’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom– the follow-up to his wildly popular 2015 film, Jurassic World– but that doesn’t mean he’s done with dinosaurs just yet! Turns out, after co-writing and producing Fallen Kingdom, Trevorrow will return to the director’s chair for part three.

Executive Producer Steven Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly that, “Colin Trevorrow is going write and direct the third Jurassic World story.” He will write the film’s script with Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim: Uprising). read more

Netflix Buys Rights For Universal’s ‘Extinction’

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If you are a studio that happens to have a delayed science fiction film with touches of horror that has been delayed multiple times, it looks like you may be in luck!  In what appears to be a new trend for streaming giant Netflix, the company has announced that it has acquired Universal’s M.I.A film Extinction.

Variety is reporting that Netflix just bought the rights to Extinction (starring Michael Pena and Lizzy Caplan) for broadcast sometime later this year.

Extinction was originally scheduled for a November 2017 release, but Universal pulled the film from their schedule, and never updated the status of the project.  The film focuses on Pena’s character, as he begins to have “…a recurring nightmare of losing his family and that bad dream becomes a reality when the planet is invaded by a force bent on destruction. Fighting for their lives, he comes to realize an unknown strength to keep his family safe from harm.” read more