George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead is in the public domain, so a lot of people have made their own sequels and remakes to the film over the decades, put out their own releases of it, colorized it, animated it, etc. It’s a property that has never been dormant… but these days it seems like its undead ghouls are livelier than ever. The George A. Romero Foundation and the Cinedigm-backed Bloody Disgusting are making a podcast sequel called The Dead. Nikyatu Jusu is directing a film sequel that will be released by MGM. Greg Nicotero is planning to make a movie about the making ofNight of the Living Dead. About a year ago, it was announced that twin directors Jen and Sylvia Soska are taking the helm of their own Night of the Living Dead follow-up called Festival of the Dead, and now the Soskas have confirmed that the movie is set to be released through the Tubi streaming service on April 5th.
We should be seeing a trailer for Festival of the Dead any time now, but while we wait for that some promotional art has dropped online:
Scripted by Helen Marsh and Miriam Lyapin, Festival of the Dead has the following synopsis: It has been over 50 years since Night of the Living Dead’s original zombie attack and the horrific event has become the subject of morbid nostalgia. Looking for fun, Ash and her friends attend the Festival of the Living Dead, but it is disrupted when a blast of radioactive space dust hits the festival and they must defend themselves or be devoured by the living dead. So it sounds like this movie will be fully buying into the idea that the original zombie outbreak was caused by the crashing of a Venus probe, something that was mentioned as a potential cause in Night of the Living Dead but never confirmed and never given any credence in Romero’s own follow-ups.
The cast includes Ashley Moore (I Know What You Did Last Summer), Camren Bicondova (Gotham), Andre Anthony (The Night Agent), Christian Rose (Holiday Baggage), Shiloh O’Reilly (The Haunted Museum), Gage Marsh (You Me Her), Keana Lyn Bastidas (The Hardy Boys), and Maia Jae Bastidas (Rabbit Hole).
According to Deadline, Moore is playing Ash, who has been accepted to college and is getting ready to reluctantly leave her old life behind as she is torn between her boyfriend and his friends, and her old friends. When her boyfriend gets her tickets to the Festival, she jumps at the opportunity to see her favorite band. Bicondova’s character is Iris, who has been Ash’s closest friend for years, though they are starting to drift apart — especially because Iris knows Ash is leaving to go to college. She agrees to watch Ash’s brother, Luke, so Ash can go to the festival.
The Soskas have revealed that Ash is meant to be the granddaughter of the Ben character from Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
Coming our way from Enlighten Content, Festival of the Living Dead is being produced by Jacob Nasser.
Are you interested in Festival of the Living Dead? Will you be watching this movie when it reaches Tubi next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
The Soska Sisters have previously directed Dead Hooker in a Trunk, American Mary, See No Evil 2, Vendetta, Rabid, On the Edge, and a segment of the anthology ABCs of Death 2.
“Now get the hell down in the cellar. You can be the boss down there, but I’m boss up here!”
To make a sequel to Romero’s Night of the Living Dead is no easy task. A lot of the work comes from getting the perfect cast – playing Ben’s granddaughter, Ash, is the insanely talented… pic.twitter.com/k9JBwpnEgh
John Malkovich is currently out promoting his new Apple TV series, The New Look (read our review), in which he plays Lucien Lelong, a famous French couturier, opposite Ben Mendelsohn as Christian Dior and Juliette Binoche as Coco Chanel. To mark the occasion, he sat with GQ to reminisce about some of his most prominent roles, including his famous turn as Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom in Con Air, opposite Nicolas Cage.
At the time, Malkovich was working with an English author on a script they wanted to make when the script for Con Air came in. “I get this script; I see that it’s called Con Air. I look at the cast of characters and notice they’re all named after romantic poets. I take the script and fling it about fifteen meters across the kitchen.” He remembers his English novelist colleague looking at him quizzically and telling him that, as a novelist, he’d never actually read a screenplay and wanted to give it a look. “The next morning, he came downstairs and gave this big speech saying, I’m so glad I’m working with someone like you who would have so much integrity that he would never imagine doing a film like this. And I said, whoa, I’m doing the film. And he goes, ‘You didn’t read it,’ and I said, ‘I didn’t have to read it; I get exactly what it is. You better believe I’m doing it!’
He goes on to fondly remember the shoot, with Jerry Bruckheimer’s entourage of tough guys making a significant impression on Malkovich. “All I really remember about it is Jerry Bruckheimer, who I liked very much; he always had this pack, and they were like extras in a way. But, who were fantastically entertaining. Danny Trejo had a role, but there were other ones like Marty McSorley (the pilot), who was a hockey enforcer, and Conrad Goode (Viking), who was an NFL football player—super entertaining, very male energy. When we break into the cockpit to take over, this guy Marty McSorley he’s supposed to put up resistance because he’s one of the pilots. He just grabbed me by the throat and put me like that (mimes holding someone up in the air with one hand) with one arm.”
He also mentioned that using so many pyrotechnics in the desert made for a challenging shoot. “I’d known Steve Buscemi, who was a fireman, and we were having trouble having too little or too much smoke. I was just reminded of this the other day because I was just in LA doing press, and I saw David (Dave) Chapelle, who was in Con Air. We had such trouble regulating the smoke. So, finally grabbed the machine and gave it to Buscemi, who was in the shot.” Remembering that Buscemi was once a fireman, he thought he could do the best job regulating the smoke. He remembers saying, “You were a fireman; just shut up and do the thing – which he did quite well, of course.”
He also fondly remembered some of the dialogue, particularly “Cy-anara” and when he tells Buscemi’s serial killer character, “I love your work.” Interestingly, he reveals Nicolas Cage came up with the “One move and the bunny gets it line.”
Indeed, he said for years, people remembered him best for that role. “For years, Cyrus The Virus was the calling card.” He also nostalgically looks back at the big “walking away from an explosion” scene. “There’s a big explosion in Con Air. In later years, Andy Samberg did a song, “Cool Guys Don’t Look at Explosions.” I remember when we did that, we had a big safety meeting, and I think the guy that ran that was called Ken… they explain this whole thing….at 30 yards this… 70 yards that. Kenny asked who wants to count it out?” He said the cast of tough guys playing the cons looked at him, assuming he would be the best in counting. “Everyone’s still alive, so I guess I could count.”
Sony hopes to wash the taste of Madame Web out of people’s mouths with a new official Spider-Man that has the strength of the MCU behind it. The next entry of the Marvel Studios Spider-Man franchise has been carefully planning its next steps as No Way Home celebrated the web crawler’s film legacy, then ultimately took Peter Parker back to his smaller roots in the end as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. However, the previous trilogy director, Jon Watts, will not be returning to the new entry, so it’s now up in the air for who can take the reins.
World of Reel reveals that Sony and Marvel Studios are wanting to start production this fall, around September or October. However, they have not yet signed on a new director. It was reported last year that the front runner for the job in the wake of Watts stepping down was Drew Goddard of The Cabin in the Woods and Bad Times at the El Royale. Goddard is still on the list of hopefuls, but Justin Lin is now also a name being considered. Lin will no doubt be judged by fans from his association with the Fast & Furious franchise, but Lin also notably made his directorial debut with an angst-fueled high school crime drama titled Better Luck Tomorrow, which is somewhat of an experience he can draw upon as the heart of Peter Parker’s story deals with the stresses of a young adult.
Interestingly, according to TheInSnieder, the recent news of Euphoria‘s delay at HBO might be blamed on Zendaya’s commitment to the superhero franchise. It was recently revealed that HBO postponed the filming of the show’s third season indefinitely, citing that the show is undergoing major changes that may take the stories into a newer setting. HBO even addressed further that while the production is on hiatus, they are allowing their stars to take on any projects in the interim.
Tom Holland himself wants to make sure the next movie is worth suiting up for again, “All I can say is that we have been actively engaging in conversations about what it could potentially look like for a fourth rendition of my character. Whether or not we can find a way to do justice to the character is another thing. I feel very protective over Spider-Man. I feel very, very lucky that we were able to work on a franchise that got better with each movie, that got more successful with each movie, which I think is really rare, and I want to protect his legacy. So, I won’t make another one for the sake of making another one. It will have to be worth the while of the character.”
Settle in, Mother Scratchers! We’re going back to the salad days of Joel and Ethan Coen‘s fabled partnership for the duo’s unconventional comedy about an unlikely courtship, unwanted house guests, a cigar-chomping pale rider, the best deals on furniture in the Southwestern portion of the United States, and baby stealing! Slap your ass, and don’t forget the Huggies because we’re revisiting the Coen Brothers’ 1987 crime comedy Raising Arizona.
The dynamic duo of Joel and Ethan Coen made the Hollywood scene in 1984 with the neo-noir crime drama Blood Simple. Featuring John Getz, Francis McDormand, and Dan Hedaya, Blood Simple helped define the brothers as a creative team to watch, with critics taking a shine to the thriller’s harsh Texas setting, twisting plot, and hypnotic characters. Not all filmmakers come out of the gate swinging, but the Coens delivered a haymaker for film buffs craving something dark, mysterious, and deadly.
Those who enjoyed Blood Simple could not wait to see what the brothers would do next. Still, rather than paint themselves as one-trick ponies, the Coens decided to go in a different direction for their sophomore film. This choice confounded some critics but intrigued audiences who craved something unorthodox and unexpected. The Coens wanted to surprise people by abandoning their investigation into the dealings of dark and disturbing individuals by introducing upbeat characters, slapstick, and playful dialogue through a madcap comedy. Thus, plans to put Raising Arizona into production began, leading the Coens down a rocky road of personality clashes and ire from angry Arizonans.
Okay, then. Let’s catch you up with what Raising Arizona is all about. The film focuses on the questionable courtship of Nicolas Cage as H.I. “Hi” McDunnough, an ex-convict labeled a repeat offender by the state of Arizona, and Holly Hunter as Edwina “Ed” McDunnough, a police officer who takes a shine to Hi’s Southern charm. Hi and Edwina tie the knot after years of revolving-door incarceration, mugshot photography flirtation, and well-intentioned advances. Their honeymoon period is short-lived once Edwina’s biological clock starts ticking, and the couple decides to have a baby.
Sadly, Edwina’s womb is a place where Hi’s seed can find no purchase, and adoption agencies aren’t keen on helping because of Hi’s checkered past. Desperate to expand their family unit, the McDunnoughs learn about a quintuplet of infants dubbed the “Arizona Quints,” born to the regionally famous furniture magnate Nathan Arizona, played by Trey Wilson, and his doting wife, Florence, played by Lynne Kitei.
Figuring the Arizona couple has more than they can handle with five mouths to feed, Hi and Edwina steal a child they believe is Nathan Jr. Devastated by the home invasion and loss of their child, the Arizonas launch an investigation into the theft. However, when local law enforcement proves themselves useless, Nathan Arizona hires Leonard Smalls, a grizzled bounty hunter with a mysterious aura bordering on the verge of supernatural.
At the McDunnough homestead, Hi and Edwina attempt to pose as a nuclear family by passing Nathan Jr. off as their offspring. Unfortunately, Hi’s buddies from the Maricopa County Maximum Security Correctional Facility For Men, Gale and Evelle Snoats, played by John Goodman and William Forsythe, respectively, have busted out of prison and come knocking on the couple’s door. As the Snoat brothers eat the McDunnoughs out of house and home, Leonard Smalls is closing in, and people are growing suspicious of the couple’s new addition.
Once the Snoat brothers vacate the McDunnough domicile, Hi’s supervisor, Glen, played by Sam McMurray, and his wife, Dot, portrayed by Francis McDormand, visit for lunch and inadvertently paint a grim picture of parenthood for the tightly wound McDunnoughs. When Glen makes one bigoted joke too many and proposes a swingers union with Hi and Edwina, Hi drops Glen like a bag of dirt. The scuffle sets a chain reaction into motion, bringing unwanted attention to the McDunnoughs, and the fight to keep the secret of Nathan Jr.’s origin becomes insurmountable.
Because the concept of Raising Arizona included new territory for the Coens, the scripting process presented unique challenges. Throughout three and a half months, Joel and Ethan Coen submerged themselves in the Arizonan vernacular, combining the state’s deep-fried dialect with supermarket magazine barks and passages from the Bible. Unlike the characters in Blood Simple, the Coens wanted audiences to connect with the McDunnoughs and feel sympathy for their child-procuring woes. Crafting lovable criminals is an art form, and the Coens have always excelled at bringing viewers close to the hearts and minds of their well-intentioned sinners.
The Coens took inspiration from the works of the American playwright, screenwriter, and director Preston Sturges, whose directorial efforts include films like The Lady Eve, Sullivan’s Travels, The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, Unfaithfully Yours, and more. Dabbling primarily in romantic comedies, musicals, and drama, the Coens adore Sturges’s versatility and ability to convey allure at a prudish time in Hollywood’s history. The Coens also cite the American writers of novels, short stories, and essays, William Faulkner and Flannery O’Connor, as fuel for their creative fire. Both writers excelled at bringing a unique Southern charm to their stories, with O’Connor displaying a particular talent for questioning Catholicism-defined morality and ethics. This theme would follow the Coens in other films, such as The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Filming for Raising Arizona lasted ten weeks, with The Addams Family, Get Shorty, and Men in Black director Barry Sonnenfeld as the project’s cinematographer. Rustling up actors to bring the film’s colorful cast was easy enough, though the Coens encountered snags while working alongside two of the film’s stars, Nicolas Cage and Leonard Smalls. Excited about collaborating with the Coens, Cage routinely offered suggestions about the script and tried to improvise when he felt inspired. The Coens waved Cage’s improvisations off like so many flies circling Nathan Arizona in the head office of his furniture store. While Cage lamented his loss of extemporizing, he respected the Coen’s vision and learned a thing or two about challenging filmmakers.
Randall “Tex” Cobb also managed to fuffle a few feathers. The Coens once described Cobb as “a force of nature,” saying they would hesitate to hire him again. Speaking with Business Insider, composer Carter Burwell offered insight into one of the low points of Cobb’s time on the Raising Arizona set.
“Cobb wasn’t an actor,” Burwell explained. “He’d shot his stuff, but there was still one or two scenes that they needed him for. His manager was a professional fighting manager. He said to the Coens, “If you really need him back, we should get twice as much money because you really can’t substitute anyone for him now, can you?” He didn’t represent any other actors, so he didn’t care about his reputation. They had to pay the money.”
Who would have guessed extortion would be a part of Raising Arizona‘s history? Add the fact that Cobb didn’t know how to ride a motorcycle – which is integral to his character – and his inability to memorize his lines, and friend, you’ve got yourself a “pain in the ass” on set.
Interestingly, Kevin Costner and Richard Jenkins auditioned for the part of Hi, but failed to land the role, with Costner making three attempts to become a part of the project. Meanwhile, Kate Capshaw was offered the role of Edwina, but turned it down, a decision she would later regret.
As for Burwell, he composed the music for Raising Arizona by combining Southern sensibilities with Looney Tunes-inspired themes. A prime example of Burwell’s madcap approach to the soundtrack is the central theme, “Way Out There.” The song begins with a doom-tinged dirge before breaking into a jaunty banjo diddy. As the track intensifies with whistles and yodels, you can practically feel the rays of a rising Arizona sun coming over the horizon.
Raising Arizona banked $29.1 million worldwide on a reported budget of $5.5 million. A moderate success, mixed reviews followed the film like a paranoid parent chasing after a newly-waddling toddler. Considering fan affinity for Raising Arizona today, you’d assume everyone enjoyed the Coen’s wiley jaunt into the Copper State. However, the film inspired public outrage in the people it represents, Arizonans. Citizens of the Grand Canyon State felt insulted by the Coen brothers’ film, saying it portrayed them as dim-witted and boorish. Even the Mayor of Scottsdale, Arizona, Herb Drinkwater, criticized the film, saying it had “no redeeming social value.”
While Raising Arizona has its share of haters, I do not count myself among them. I had a blast revisiting the film for this script, and I still regard it as one of my Top 5 Coen Brothers films. Cage and Hunter’s comedic chemistry is off-the-charts, with Goodman and Forsythe elevating the film with their brotherly hijinks. If you listen closely, you’ll hear dialogue from Raising Arizona woven into my everyday vocabulary, including the line “The government do take a bite, don’t she,” whenever I see the powers that be going vampire on our housing costs and paychecks.
Raising Arizona is an early example of the Coen’s talent for crafting darling delinquents and clever yet cartoonish comedy. It is challenging to imagine the Coen Brothers’ filmography without this experimental gem and consider its influence on filmmakers for years to come. While films like Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and True Grit shine like diamonds in the Coens’ ornate crown of classics, it’s important to remember the duo’s salad days and how taking a risk resulted in one of their most beloved films.
Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us is currently filming in the Canadian province of British Columbia and Pedro Pascal, who plays post-apocalypse dad Joel Miller, has reportedly finished all of his parts just one month after filming began. If you’ve played Naughty Dog’s TLOU Part II, then you probably know why he’s…
Season 2 of HBO’s The Last of Us is currently filming in the Canadian province of British Columbia and Pedro Pascal, who plays post-apocalypse dad Joel Miller, has reportedly finished all of his parts just one month after filming began. If you’ve played Naughty Dog’s TLOU Part II, then you probably know why he’s…
Imaginary, the latest team-up between Blumhouse and director Jeff Wadlow – who had previously collaborated on the 2018 film Truth or Dare and the 2020 horror version of Fantasy Island – reached theatres on March 8th, and it hasn’t set the box office on fire during its tow and a half week theatrical run, pulling in just under $29 million at the global box office. Now Lionsgate has given the film a PVOD (that’s Premium Video on Demand) and PEST (that’s Premium Electronic Sell-Through) release, so maybe more genre fans will check it out now that it’s available to watch in the comfort of our own homes.
The Amazon version it available to watch HERE. The Vudu version comes with an exclusive featurette: Forged by Fire: A Tale of Unbreakable Family Bonds.
The film sees DeWanda Wise of Jurassic World: Dominion taking on the role of Jessica, who moves back into her childhood home with her family, and her youngest stepdaughter Alice develops an eerie attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey. Alice starts playing games with Chauncey that become increasingly sinister. As Alice’s behavior becomes more concerning, Jessica intervenes, only to realize Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear she believes him to be.
Wadlow wrote the screenplay for Imaginary with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. An earlier synopsis we saw made it sound like a horror take on the 1991 comedy Drop Dead Fred: A young woman returns to her childhood home only to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and very unhappy she left.
The director had this to say about working with Wise: “DeWanda has been more than a star on this movie — she has been a full creative partner. So much of horror grows out of our most basic fears from childhood, and DeWanda taps into all of that. You know that old saying that the audience’s imagination is scarier than any movie? We’re going to put that to the test.“
Lionsgate and Blumhouse co-financed Imaginary. Lionsgate and Blumhouse previously worked together on the 2012 release Sinister. Wadlow is producing the film alongside Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.
In addition to Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island, Jeff Wadlow has also directed Cry_Wolf, Never Back Down, Kick-Ass 2,True Memoirs of an International Assassin, and The Curse of Bridge Hollow, as well as episodes of TV shows like Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Will you be watching Imaginary now that it has gotten a PVOD and PEST release? Let us know by leaving a comment below – and if you have already seen the movie, tell us what you thought of it! (You can read our review at THIS LINK.)
As the one-year anniversary of Final Fantasy XVI’s release approaches, the game seems to be approaching the end of support. The Rising Tide, the second and final piece of DLC for the game, releases in April, and the PC port is in the final stages of optimization. The assumption would be that after both of those are…
As the one-year anniversary of Final Fantasy XVI’s release approaches, the game seems to be approaching the end of support. The Rising Tide, the second and final piece of DLC for the game, releases in April, and the PC port is in the final stages of optimization. The assumption would be that after both of those are…
It’s no secret that Disney’s effort to display more diversity has been criticized in the past, and it becomes a hotbed of controversy. The debate would notably heat up when established characters would be cast with actors of another race or sex. However, movies like Marvel Studios’ Black Panther films and The Marvels would attempt to capitalize on the brand’s comic IP, which has already been established in the comic world as diverse characters. The reception of the movies would differ, as the Black Panther movies became smash hits at the box office while The Marvels fizzled with some of the studio’s lowest performances.
While the success of these films and other films like Black Widow or the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World seem to fluctuate with the popularity or reception of the characters, Disney activist investor Nelson Peltz would recently call into question why they need what he says are “all black” and “all woman” casts. Variety reports that the 81-year-old Peltz recently gave an interview in Financial Times where he asked, “Why do I have to have a Marvel [movie] that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do that? Why can’t I have Marvels that are both? Why do I need an all-Black cast?”
It is not clear whether Peltz is meaning to say “predominantly” when he says “all” or perhaps he misguidedly thinks the movies literally have “all woman” or “all black” casts. However, Bob Iger, who has been instrumental in some of the most dominant phases of Disney, has both championed for the characters in question as well as tried not to let agenda get in the way of storytelling. In Iger’s memoir The Ride of a Lifetime from 2019, he mentioned how tensions would heat up with Marvel and Disney as he butted heads with Ike Perlmutter and wrote, “We had a chance to make a great movie and to showcase an underrepresented segment of America, and those goals were not mutually exclusive. I called Ike and told him to tell his team to stop putting up roadblocks and ordered that we put both Black Panther and Captain Marvel into production.”
Additionally, now that Iger has been reinstated at Disney, last fall at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit, he would explain, “Creators lost sight of what their No. 1 objective needed to be. We have to entertain first. It’s not about messages. People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained. They don’t go to get a message.”
