Exclusives
‘Vacancy’ Writer Pens ‘Martyrs’, Latest John Hillcoat Thriller!
A few weeks back it was announced that Paramount had set up an untitled horror project penned by Mark L. Smith (Vacancy, The Hole 3D) with Platinum Dunes partners Michael Bay, Brad Fuller and Andrew Form along with Room 101’s Steven Schneider. The project was kept under wraps, so we caught up with Smith to see if we could get any nuggets of info out of him. During the interview, he revealed some HUGE news on some forthcoming projects, one of which is the eventual redo of Pascal Laugier’s Martyrs. Watch for the interview soon.
With the full interview forthcoming, below are a few morsels of info we received from writer Mark L. Smith.
When asked about future projects he told us about “The Revenant, which is a period action/revenge piece that Anonymous Content is producing,” he tells BD exclusively adding some huge news. “John Hillcoat (The Road) is attached to direct, and Christian Bale is in talks to star.”
He also reveals that he wrote the current draft of “Martyrs… a remake of the French horror film that I wrote for Wyck Godfrey (Temple/Hill) who’s producing the Twilight films among others.”
He also dropped the bomb on something super secret he’s developing for FX guru-turned-director Patrick Tatopoulos.
“There’s also an fantastic project I’m working on with Patrick Tatopoulos (Underworld 3, I, Frankenstein, The Colony). He’d kill me if I told anyone what it was about… it was Patrick’s idea/vision, and I was just lucky enough that he asked me to do it with him. He’s amazing.”
Lastly there’s a film called Trouble, “a thriller that Bold Films (The Hole) is making. Sidney Lumet and I worked on the script together, which was an amazing experience.“
Out today in select theaters and on digital platforms is heartfelt and playful documentary Mockbuster, which sees a director cold call a studio and ask to helm a lost-world dinosaur epic.
Inexplicably, they say yes.
Our exclusive clip below highlights both the comedic nature of this bizarre scenario as well as the pressures of shooting dino feature The Land That Time Forgot in a mere six days, with no real feature experience.
A dino attack scene causes friction on set in this scene.
In the documentary, “A struggling filmmaker’s opportunity collides with chaos and compromise when Sharknado’s notorious studio, The Asylum, invites him to direct a ‘mockbuster.’ With six days, a micro budget, and mounting pressure, Mockbuster is a comedic, behind-the-scenes documentary exploring the balance between low-budget filmmaking and creative ambition.”
More than just an inside look at filmmaking via low-budget film studio The Asylum, it doubles as one man’s pursuit of his dreams to charming, humorous effect.
“Mockbuster is a documentary about my own journey, but it’s also a love letter to one of the last grindhouses still functioning in Hollywood. We get to meet the characters and creators of some of the most infamous (and most hated) B-movies of the last few decades. People who make movies purely for profit – no pretension, no artistry, just monsters, C-listers, and chaos. A film that both genre fans and cinephiles can enjoy. But Mockbuster isn’t just about filmmaking, it’s about losing sight of your dreams, and reclaiming them in your own twisted way,” Director Anthony Frith said in a statement.
From Executive Producer and famed documentarian David Farrier, Mockbuster opens in select theaters and on digital platforms beginning July 10.