Movies

‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ Remake Finds Its First Resident

Published

15 years ago

May 7, 2009

For those of you Guillermo del Toro purists out there, the first official casting came in this evening for Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, a thriller for Miramax Films that was scripted by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins. Beyond the break you see who will star in the latest big budget Hollywood remake going into production this summer under the helm of Troy Nixey.
Katie Holmes (Batman Begins) will star in “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” a thriller for Miramax Films that was scripted by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, writes the Hollywood Reporter.

Del Toro is producing with Mark Johnson and the film will be directed by del Toro protege Troy Nixey.

Some interesting news is that the film will shoot this summer in Melbourne as a “Guillermo del Toro Presentation.”

“Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” is based on a 1973 ABC telepic about a young girl who moves in with her father and his girlfriend and discovers they are sharing the house with devilish creatures.

Nixey, a comicbook artist, is making his feature directing debut. Del Toro sparked to “Latchkey’s Lament,” a Nixey-directed short that captured the tone del Toro wanted for “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark.”

Del Toro and Johnson are also teamed with Gary Ungar to produce “Hater,” an adaptation of the David Moody horror novel that will be directed at Universal by Juan Antonio Bayona (“The Orphanage”).

Holmes most recently completed “The Extra Man,” directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini.

Del Toro is busy readying “The Hobbit,” which he’s writing with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. That film shoots next year.

Movies

Melissa Barrera and Bailee Madison Want Roles in the ‘Scary Movie’ Reboot

Published

3 mins ago

April 24, 2024

John Squires

Abigail Overlook Film Festival 2024 - gory horror Abigail set visit

Pictured: Melissa Barrera in 'Abigail'

It was announced two weeks ago that Paramount is resurrecting the Scary Movie spoof franchise with a brand new reboot movie, which will likely arrive in theaters next year.

The new movie, a joint venture between Paramount and Miramax that will technically be the sixth installment in the franchise, is expected to go into production this coming Fall.

We don’t yet know who will be writing, directing or starring in the Scary Movie reboot, but two actors in particular have already expressed an interest in joining the franchise.

The first is Melissa Barrera, who can currently be seen in theaters in Radio Silence’s bloody horror movie Abigail. Barrera is of course also the star of Scream and Scream VI, which kind of makes her a perfect candidate to lampoon herself in a Scary Movie reboot.

“I always loved those movies,” Melissa Barrera tells the website Inverse. “When I saw it announced, I was like, ‘Oh, that would be fun.’ That would be so fun to do.”

The actress adds, “They have the iconic cast that did it, so we’ll see what goes on with that. I’m just excited to see a new one.”

In a tweet posted last night, Bailee Madison (The Strangers: Prey at Night, the upcoming “Pretty Little Liars: Summer School”) also threw her hat in the running.

Madison tweets, “Random but scary movie 6 hit me up cause I just feel like we’d have fun okay bye.” Your move, Paramount. And make sure you call Anna Faris and Regina Hall too.

Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, the first Scary Movie was released in 2000, just four years after Wes Craven reinvigorated the horror genre with his meta slasher masterpiece, Scream.

The film parodied horror movies of the time including Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and The Blair Witch Project, and the horror-comedy spoof scared up $278 million at the worldwide box office. The success of that first Scary Movie paved the way for an entire franchise of horror spoofs, five of them in total released between 2000 and 2013.