Vampires, Witches and Wolves

Let me start by saying I'm not doing a piece on New Moon because everybody else on the planet is and from a development perspective, once a movie comes out, it's already old news by a couple of years. But it bears mentioning that the sequel to novelist Stephenie Meyers' first book-turned-movie is posting some record breaking numbers and that DOES impact script development and acquisitions. Nikki Finke has the scoop on the numbers.

To begin with, it seems to me that New Moon sends a pair of messages to the powers that be in Hollywood.

#1 There's a fiercely underfed female audience (about 80% of the NM audience is female). The old adage that the best box office bang for the buck is a male 30-40something lead with the female in the supporting role, has to stand down. For the third time in 18 months this "box office phenomenon" has occured (Sex in the City: The Movie being the first). Sex2, BTW, trips into theatres Memorial Day.

#2 Twilight Saga's blockbuster success bumps up interest in gothic (although not necessarily just horror) - because everybody wants a safe investment. There are already several pics in the pipeline including a remake of the classic horror flick The Wolfman (out February 12, 2010)



Tim Burton's remake of Dark Shadows (with Johnny Depp as Barnabas) promises to be a classic of a classic and as does next summer's Jerry Bruckheimer adventure The Sorcerer's Apprentice (with Nicholas Cage). Here's the Disney animated short, taken from Fantasia, just for grins.



Jerry Bruckheimer's version takes the original short story by Goethe and sets it in urban New York with a simple college student who finds himself working for a wizard and learning the tricks of the trade. Should be fun. It's slated for a late July 2010 release. And this morning stories were already circulating that a sequel for Joe Dante's The Howling is going into development.

Is there room for more? Probably. At this very moment development execs are likely pouring over classics looking for stories in public domain. Mary Shelley's classic Frankenstein is already in development at Universal and Guillermo del Toro is on record as wanting to do a remake of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde after he finishes The Hobbit.

Faust, or a story containing Faustian elements is a good bet and possibly something by Edgar Allan Poe. Maybe even a story about Poe himself. He was a very dark, tragic character. Also maybe a modern adaptation of or something around The Tales of Hoffman. Here's hoping for an adaptation of Neil Gaiman's latest book, The Graveyard.

There IS a remake of Little Shop of Horrors in the works. The new film won't be a redo of the Frank Oz musical. It's based on the original 1960Roger Corman flick. Last, but not least, as predicted, Joss Whedon will be making a big studio version of Dr. Horrible. Toldja! Here's a clip from the original...



But the real takeaway here is the hunger for the genre. If you ask me, it's got a lot to do with the need for people to get lost in fantasy. At least the monsters in the movies are tangible, unlike so much of what we face in life. Harry Potter, it seems, was just the tip of the iceberg. And it's only a matter of time before someone does a spoof. Doc Horrible already qualifies for that but there will most likely be at least one more. I just hope they don't remake Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein. It'd be awfully hard to top...