‘Saw’ joins Hollywood Horror Nights 2009 at Universal Studios Hollywood

 

Brady MacDonald – Los Angeles Times

   Universal Studios Hollywood has fired scare-meisters Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Leatherface in favor of “Saw” serial killer Jigsaw for Halloween Horror Nights 2009.

Jigsaw will get his own haunted maze at the fright fest, with additional horror characters to be named to the lineup in the coming months, according to theme park officials.

Horror fan site Bloody Disgusting reports that Michael Myers of “Halloween” fame will join Jigsaw with his own maze in 2009 at Universal Studios Hollywood.

   Sister-park Universal Studios Orlando in Florida is also hiring Jigsaw for Halloween Horror Nights 19 as well as “Child’s Play” killer doll Chucky and the Wolfman, a 1940s horror monster set to get a November 2009 remake staring Benicio Del Toro.

   Set to debut just before Halloween 2009, the sixth film in the “Saw” horror movie franchise revolves around the “Jigsaw Killer” who teaches his victims the value of life via twisted traps, tests and games involving physical or psychological torture.

   The Lionsgate movie studio officially backed a “Saw” haunted house in a shuttered Brea movie theater last Halloween that drew 20,000 visitors, according to Variety.

When: HHN 2009 will take place at Universal Studios Hollywood on Friday through Sunday nights in October as well as Thursday, Oct. 29 (with the exception of Friday, Oct. 4).

HHN 19 at Universal Studios Orlando will take place on Thursday through Sunday nights in October as well as Sept. 25 and 26 and Oct. 21 and 28.

 

50 Cent Reveals Role In ‘Intense’ Remake Of ‘Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde’

Larry Carroll – MTV.com

‘Working beside him is a great honor,’ the MC says of starring alongside Forest Whitaker.

It’s one of the most bizarre — and secretive — projects in the worlds of hip-hop and Hollywood. Ever since it was first announced, it has raised more questions than answers. But now, 50 Cent is finally ready to talk about his monstrous turn in a modern-day “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” film.

“That one’s coming up soon,” Fif told us this week, excited about the first horror film of his young acting career, which he starts shooting at this end of the summer opposite a recent Oscar winner. “It’s me and Forest Whitaker. I actually just spoke to his agent yesterday.”

Since the project made headlines in May, 50 has remained tight-lipped about the remake of Robert Louis Stevenson’s timeless tale of an affable doctor battling the evil within himself. In the classic setup, the doctor invents a potion that fully unveils his inner beast — only to create a battle between Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for their common body.

“Ah, so you assuming?” the chart-topper laughed when I told him that Internet buzz suspects that he’ll be portraying the monster. “I don’t know, you know?”

After a bit of coaxing, however, he admitted his role for the first time. “Yeah, I’m supposed to play Hyde.”

“It’s gonna be intense,” he said excitedly. And although his appearance will be transformed with makeup and hair so he can play a deadlier version of Whitaker’s mild-mannered Dr. Jekyll, 50 Cent said that they’re just now getting around to discussing his look with accomplished filmmaker Abel Ferrara. “He’s an excellent director, so his creative ideas will definitely be an injective into what it’s actually gonna turn out to be.”

“Are you familiar with Abel Ferrara? ‘Bad Lieutenant’?” 50 Cent said of one of his favorite movies, a controversial 1992 flick starring Harvey Keitel and currently being remade with Nicolas Cage. “It was amazing. So, then you understand that the director we chose for this ['Jekyll'] project is the kind of guy that has an eye for real cutting-edge, really in-your-face material.”

50 Cent also confirmed that his “Jekyll” will update Stevenson’s tale to take place in modern times. “When you say ‘Jekyll and Hyde,’ it’s been made a couple of times,” explained the actor, who can be seen with Val Kilmer in the New Orleans cop drama “Streets of Blood” when it hits DVD later this month. “And [it's been told] from different perspectives, with different directors trying to capture it. But this is gonna feel great. It’s modern, with new talent in it. Forest Whitaker is amazing, and working beside him is a great honor.” 

Amazon Specials!

Making art of movie mayhem

Becky Scott and Leo Wieser run calgary special effects company Bleeding Arts industries.Photograph by Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald

 

Gwendolyn Richards – Calgary Herald

Special effects duo aim for realism in messy work

Leo Wieser likes to experiment with blood.

   There is viscosity to think about, colour saturation, opacity and, of course, what it looks like when it’s sprayed.

  He’s an ad hoc chemist, trying to take what is, for the most part, corn syrup and make it look enough like the real thing that audiences will be suitably grossed out.

   Wieser has some expertise in this area. After all, he and his company, Bleeding Art Industries, were behind the bloodbath that was the Evil Dead musical, which recently wrapped in Calgary.

   And, when not dealing with blood, there’s plenty of other special effects Wieser and his partner –in business and life–Becky Scott are concocting, plotting, organizing and offering up to film and stage shows.

  Their effects have made appearances in Jackie Chan’s Shanghai Knights, werewolf movie Ginger Snaps 2 and have graced the stage for not just Evil Dead, but the rather bloody production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore.

   They were behind the controversial Work Safe videos that use graphic special effects to convey exactly what the dangers are at some work places.

   The world of special effects has been a draw for Wieser since he first watched the Wizard of Oz and was enchanted by the tornado and the red cloud of fluid smoke that envelopes the wicked witch when she disappears.

Now, he deals with models, creatures, explosives, prosthetics and a mixed bag of other special effects.

   “We do the fire, the blood, the wind and the rain,” he says.

Diversification is part of the job these days. Productions want Cadillac effects for Lada prices, says Wieser. And, as a result, Bleeding Art must try to balance artistry with cash flow.

   Still, Wieser recognizes having a career like his has moments others would envy, such as faking a train wreck or building a life-size animatronic lion for the Calgary Zoo.

While a lot of their work is for stage and screen, it isn’t just audiences who benefit from the talents at Bleeding Art.

   The company was also behind a series of military simulations where they provided realistic body parts for scenarios designed to prepare soldiers for what they would see in action overseas.

   In a handful of cases, Scott confides, soldiers were held back because they couldn’t handle the situations, crying or throwing up in response. It is this kind of realism they strive for.

   “I like bringing people experiences, making them believe something that isn’t there,” Wieser says.

Stephen King’s book “Cell” to be miniseries?

Terra King – The Examiner

Eli Roth was originally attached to the feature film “Cell”, based on the Stephen King book.

However, the project is now being shopped as a  miniseries.

John Harrison penned the script for  “Book of Blood”,  based on the Clive Barker novels, which premiered at Montreal’s “Fantasia Film Festival” earlier this month. He is now penning the script for “Cell” as a four-hour miniseries.

Cell is the story of a pulse that goes through everyone’s cell phone at the same time. If you were on the phone…you were “screwed”. This pulse at first makes everyone “Zombie like”, however they start changing into something else….

Several Stephen King novels have made it to TV as miniseries. These minis are some of King’s best work.

Storm of the Century-specifically made for TV. Was a  scary story about an island (Little Tall Island,) that is hit by the “storm of the century”, and cut off from the rest of the world with a stranger on the island that wants something….

Rose Red-a great ghost story

The Shinning-remade as a miniseries             

‘Salem’s lot-also remade as a miniseries.

Riding the Bullet

The Stand

I hope “Cell” gets made. It was a great  book and will make a great miniseries.