Movies
Joe Dante Talks Return to Horror and ‘The Hole’ Being 3-D
It’s pretty exciting to see the director of GREMLINS, PIRANHA and THE HOWLING making a huge return to horror with The Hole, but did you know that director Joe Dante doesn’t really find much of an interest in horror films? Beyond the break you can read a portion of an interview where he talks about how he returned to horror and why he decided to shoot in 3-D.
Joe Dante talks to Screen Daily about his new feature, THE HOLE, which was funded by Bold films for approx $15m. First on the list is why he’s returning to horror.
“I’ve made a lot of horror movies but generally don’t find much of interest in them because the material doesn’t appeal to me,” Dante says as he prepares to begin production in Vancouver in December. “This was different: it’s essentially a family-oriented story and I found the quality of the writing and characters to be above average.”
When he read the script for The Hole, a lightbulb clicked on inside his head. “3D seems to be in the news again due to the peripatetic efforts of Jeffrey Katzenberg, so I thought this might be the time to do a 3D movie.”
The story features a family who move into a new house where the children find a bottomless hole in the basement. “Of course, there’s something bad in the hole and I thought we could use 3D to enhance the telling of the story with things not so much coming at you but going away from you.”
Teri Polo, Chris Massoglia and Haley Bennett will star in the film written by Mark L. Smith.
Movies
Christopher Landon to Helm Feature Adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s ‘The Final Girl Support Group’
A new feature adaptation of author Grady Hendrix‘s slasher book The Final Girl Support Group is now on the way from Paramount Pictures, and Deadline reports that it’s found its director in Christopher Landon (Drop, Happy Death Day).
The two previously collaborated on My Best Friend’s Exorcism.
In The Final Girl Support Group, “Lynette is a real-life final girl who survived a massacre. For more than a decade, she’s been meeting with five other final girls and their therapist in a support group for those who survived the unthinkable, working to put their lives back together. Then one woman misses a meeting, and their worst fears are realized—someone knows about the group and is determined to rip their lives apart again, piece by piece.”
“But the thing about final girls is that no matter how bad the odds, how dark the night, how sharp the knife, they will never, ever give up.”
I wrote in my novel review for BD, “Hendrix puts his characters through the absolute wringer. It’s a bloody, vicious voyage for the flawed heroine, both physically and emotionally. In terms of action and horror, Support Group delivers breakneck pacing and thrills.”
Five years ago, Andy Muschietti & Barbara Muschietti (Mama, It, It Chapter Two) were attached to produce a planned series adaptation for HBO Max alongside Charlize Theron. While Theron is no longer producing, the Muschiettis remain on board under their Double Dream label.
Paramount Pictures is also developing Hendrix’s sci-fi novella, BadAsstronauts.
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