Movies
Grudge Director Enjoys 3-D Amusement Park ‘Shock Labyrinth’
Asmik Ace Entertainment has unveiled details of Japan’s first live-action digital 3D feature, The Shock Labyrinth, which The Grudge director Takashi Shimizu started shooting earlier this week, reports Screen Daily. Beyond the break you’ll find all of the details on this new horror-thriller that finally breaks Shimizu from the curse.
Yuya Yagira, who won best actor at Cannes 2004 for Nobody Knows, heads the cast of hot young Japanese actors which also includes Misako Renbutsu (The Inugamis), Ryo Katsuji (Hana), Ai Maeda (Battle Royale), Erina Mizuno and Suzuki Matsuo.
Based on an original screenplay by Daisuke Hosaka, the horror-thriller follows a group of teenagers dealing with the sudden return of a friend who went missing a decade ago. When the friend falls ill, they take her to a hospital but end up trapped in a labyrinthine haunted house.
The film’s central setting is inspired by the Labyrinth of Horrors attraction at Fuji-Q High Land amusement park, near the base of Mount Fuji. The attraction set the Guinness world record for the largest haunted house in the world. Much of the film is being shot on location during the park’s off hours.
The Shock Labyrinth is produced by Satoru Ogura of production house Ogura Jimusyho and Asmik Ace’s Masayuki Tanishima and Dai Miyazaki.
Shimizu previously directed J-horror titles Ju-on and Juon 2 and their US remakes The Grudge and The Grudge 2.
“I am extremely thrilled to be working with the horror giant Shimizu on his first 3D project. This project is inspired by amusement park attractions, like Pirates Of The Caribbean and HauntedMansion, but it is not only that. We are literally shooting the film inside the actual horror house and it will be delivered earlier than James Cameron’s Avatar,” said Tanishima.
Asmik Ace will distribute the film in Japan this October and is also handling international sales.
Movies
‘Abigail’ on Track for a Better Opening Weekend Than Universal’s Previous Two Vampire Attempts
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.”
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