Extra bits n’ bobs from this week’s genre news…

* Development has begun on a biopic of Rod Serling, creator of the seminal genre show THE TWILIGHT ZONE.

* Remember when we excitedly announced Matthew Fox and Ed Harris had signed on to zombie flick WORLD WAR Z? Yeah, well that didn’t work out – both have left the project just weeks into shooting. Scheduling conflicts apparently. Sounds suspect.

* Now Rob Zombie’s got those godawful HALLOWEEN movies out of his system, it’s time for the once-promising horror director to focus on original material again. His next movie, LORDS OF SALEM, finally has an official synopsis: “Heidi, a blonde rock chick, DJs at a local radio station, and together with the two Hermans (Whitey and Munster) forms part of the “Big H Radio Team”. A mysterious wooden box containing a vinyl record arrives for Heidi, “a gift from the Lords”. She assumes it’s a rock band on a mission to spread their word. As Heidi and Whitey play the Lords’ record, it starts to play backwards, and Heidi experiences a flashback to a past trauma. Later Whitey plays the Lords’ record, dubbing them the Lords of Salem, and to his surprise, the record plays normally and is a massive hit with listeners. The arrival of another wooden box from the Lords presents the Big H Team with free tickets, posters and records to host a gig in Salem. Soon Heidi and her cohorts find that the gig is far from the rock spectacle they’re expecting: the original Lords of Salem are returning, and they’re out for BLOOD.” Sounds like TEXAS 2 meets TRICK OR TREAT.

* Universal announces SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN to be first of a trilogy. Good luck with that!

* Shia LaBeouf (who got a dressing down by Harrison Ford this week) confessed to bumming Megan Fox sometime during the making of the first two TRANSFORMERS movies – “Look, you’re on the set for six months, with someone who’s rooting to be attracted to you, and you’re rooting to be attracted to them, I never understood the separation of work and life in that situation. But the time I spent with Megan was our own thing, and I think you can see the chemistry onscreen.” Debatable.

* TRANSFORMERS mainstay Tyrese Gibson is campaigning for the role of young Luke Cage in the as-yet-to-be-even-green-lit Marvel movie. He’s got a long way to go to beat this guy.

* Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel developing an ANGRY BIRDS movie.

* For the mega curious amongst you, here’s some (very) behind the scenes footage from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES featuring Bale and Anne Hathaway (Catwoman). Feel free to skip – to be honest it’s rubbish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUk-Y8tl2S8

* Lionsgate, the makers of LEATHERFACE 3D, have finally sorted out their legal woes and now have the rights to use the title THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 3D instead. They celebrated by announcing a Halloween 2012 release. Please don’t mess it up again, guys.

* As we mentioned a few weeks back, Neca Toys are going to be producing a line of action figures based on Sam Raimi’s untouchable horror classic EVIL DEAD 2. Here’s a very early look at Ash…


* Well it worked quite well for PIRATES OF THE CARRIBBEAN I suppose… Disney are set to produce a movie based on another of their amusement park attractions. This time it’s the turn of Matterhorn. Yeah, us neither. It’s a toboggan-based Swiss mountain type ride apparently. But screenwriters Jason Dean Hall and Justin Springer have thrown Yetis in the mix, so everything should be fine. Maybe Johnny Depp could play the mythical beast to really seal the deal. Just a thought…

* Speaking of which, Alice Cooper is set to cameo alongside Mr Depp in Tim Burton’s upcoming DARK SHADOWS remake.

* I honestly loved TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, but I’m not sure how I feel about this at all…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7kcqB3thJM

 

* Martin Scorsese’s first family film (and first foray into the world of 3D) HUGO CABRET has undergone a name change. The story of a young orphan boy discovering a broken robot underneath a Parisian train station will now simply be called HUGO. Expect the first trailer to debut before HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS PART II.

* Joe Johnston, director of the upcoming CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER, wants to make a sequel to his little-seen 1991 feature THE ROCKETEER. Should Cap hit big, he might just get his way.

* Check out the new poster for FINAL DESTINATION 5. Is anybody else strangely excited for this?


* Stan Lee’s POW! Entertainment has partnered with Ricco Capital and Panda Media Partners to form new film production company Magic Storm Entertainment. Cool! Does this mean we will finally see live-action versions of STRIPPERELLA and THE GOVERNATOR! Excelsi-snore.

Thoughts? You know you got ’em! Don’t be shy…

 

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