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Keep Your Lips Sealed, ‘Pontypool’ Sequel on the Way!

Published

15 years ago

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While I wasn’t a huge fan of the film (read my review from the 2008 Toronto Film Festival), the buzz behind Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool is extremely positive. While the lot of you wait to see the film later this month (IFC releases it in limited theaters and on VOD May 29th), acclaimed director Bruce McDonald is already prepping his return to the director’s chair with Pontypool Changes, a sequel to his highly anticipated psychological thriller that follows a small-town radio station DJ (Stephen McHattie) discovers that recent madness in the local population may be caused by a virus transmitted through speech, reports Twitch Film. Read on for the skinny.
From a press release posted by Twitch Film:

“Producer Jeffrey Coghlan confirmed rumors in Cannes today that the Pontypool sequel is scheduled to lens in early 2010, reuniting McDonald with Pontypool screenwriter Tony Burgess, who adapted the original from his book “Pontypool Changes Everything”.

Horror fan and blog sites are already buzzing and early reviews for Pontypool are calling the tensely intelligent thriller McDonald’s best film ever and one of the scariest films in years.

Pontypool, named after the small town in which it’s set, features veteran character actor Stephen McHattie, (Watchmen, 300, A History of Violence), as a cantankerous radio DJ trapped within the station’s walls as a deadly virus consumes the town, turning its citizens into cannibalistic zombie-like creatures. IFC In Theatres releases the film May 29th day and date on its VOD platform, which reaches more than 50 million homes in the US.

The early demand surprised Coghlan who said, “Fan and distributor reactions have been overwhelming, and the script for the sequel takes a whole new side to the story and really opens it up for more action, and more scares. It’s brilliant.”

Pontypool has it’s final marketplace screening in Cannes on Monday May 18 at 5:30 pm with worldwide sales being handled by Forward Motion Entertainment.”

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Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.

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‘Abigail’ on Track for a Better Opening Weekend Than Universal’s Previous Two Vampire Attempts

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1 hour ago

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April 19, 2024

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In the wake of Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man back in 2020, Universal has been struggling to achieve further box office success with their Universal Monsters brand. Even in the early days of the pandemic, Invisible Man scared up $144 million at the worldwide box office, while last year’s Universal Monsters: Dracula movies The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield didn’t even approach that number when you COMBINE their individual box office hauls.

The horror-comedy Renfield came along first in April 2023, ending its run with just $26 million. The period piece Last Voyage of the Demeter ended its own run with a mere $21 million.

But Universal is trying again with their ballerina vampire movie Abigail this weekend, the latest bloodbath directed by the filmmakers known as Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream).

Unlike Demeter and Renfield, the early reviews for Abigail are incredibly strong, with our own Meagan Navarro calling the film “savagely inventive in terms of its vampiric gore,” ultimately “offering a thrill ride with sharp, pointy teeth.” Read her full review here.

That early buzz – coupled with some excellent trailers – should drive Abigail to moderate box office success, the film already scaring up $1 million in Thursday previews last night. Variety notes that Abigail is currently on track to enjoy a $12 million – $15 million opening weekend, which would smash Renfield ($8 million) and Demeter’s ($6 million) opening weekends.

Working to Abigail‘s advantage is the film’s reported $28 million production budget, making it a more affordable box office bet for Universal than the two aforementioned movies.

Stay tuned for more box office reporting in the coming days.

In Abigail, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”

Abigail Melissa Barrera movie

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