BLUMHOUSE SECURES RIGHTS TO LONGEST DOCUMENTED POLTERGEIST HAUNTING IN HISTORY: "May 25, 2021, Los Angeles, CA -- In an ultra competitive bidding situation, Blumhouse Television and Michael Seitzman’s Maniac Productions have secured the rights to BBC Radio 4’s “The Battersea Poltergeist” podcast, presented by Danny Robins, which the company is developing as the first season of a scripted ongoing series and a companion unscripted series, titled Blumhouse’s Ghost Story. Additionally, the companies have also secured Hitchings’ life rights, as well as the rights to her and James Clark’s book, The Poltergeist Prince of London: The Remarkable True Story of the Battersea Poltergeist.
The wildly popular docu-drama podcast, written and presented by Danny Robins, was the #1 drama podcast worldwide on Apple Podcasts and features the voices of Dafne Keen (Logan) and Toby Jones (The Dark Crystal). The podcast documents the strange events focused around Shirley Hitchings in 1956 that were investigated over a 12-year period, the longest documented poltergeist haunting in history. The podcast boasts nearly 3 million streams and downloads since its launch, and has been at the forefront of the boom in audio storytelling in the UK. It was co-produced by Robins with Simon Barnard for Bafflegab Productions and commissioned by Rhian Roberts for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.
“From our first listen to Danny’s captivating podcast, we were hooked and could easily envision how to bring the story to life - in both scripted and unscripted formats - for television viewers,” said Chris McCumber, Blumhouse Television president. “We’re grateful to Michael Seitzman for identifying the project early on, and championing it so aggressively.”
“It's been an amazing journey making the podcast for the BBC and now I couldn’t have hoped for a better partner than Blumhouse, a leader in the genre, when looking to further develop it,” said executive producer and series creator Danny Robins. “I’m thrilled to work with them and Michael to bring the series to life visually. Ghost stories don't get stranger or scarier than this.”
“Once you listen to the gripping and terrifying true story of Shirley Hitchings, it’s easy to understand why Danny’s podcast inspired two-page spreads in every newspaper in the UK,” said executive producer Michael Seitzman. “It was exactly what we’d been looking for to launch our new ongoing series based on true hauntings. As he did with his podcast, Danny Robins will have viewers sleeping with the lights on after they watch his show!”
Danny Robins, Michael Seitzman, Jason Blum, and Chris McCumber will executive produce both the scripted and unscripted series, and Emma Cooper (The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Bikram) is attached to produce, via her company Empress Films, on the unscripted series with the aforementioned team.
Robins co-created the BAFTA-nominated BBC series Young Dracula, which won a Royal Television Society Award. His credits also include Rudy’s Rare Records, The Cold Swedish Winter, Trollied and the critically-acclaimed podcast Haunted."
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Ronny Chieng Joins Cast of Blumhouse and Atomic Monster’s Tech Horror Thriller M3GAN from Director Gerard Johnstone: "Ronny Chieng (Asian Comedian Destroys America!, Crazy Rich Asians) has been cast in Blumhouse and Atomic Monster’s tech horror thriller, M3GAN, for Universal. Akela Cooper (Malignant, The Nun 2, Luke Cage) wrote the script that is based on a story by James Wan, and Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) will direct the film.
In the film, Allison Williams plays Gemma, a brilliant roboticist at a toy company. She uses artificial intelligence to develop M3GAN, a life-like doll programmed to be a kid’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. After unexpectedly gaining custody of her orphaned niece, Gemma enlists the help of the M3GAN prototype - a decision that has unimaginable consequences.
Jason Blum and James Wan are producing the thriller. Michael Clear, of Wan’s Atomic Monster banner, will executive produce with Judson Scott shepherding for the company. Blumhouse’s Ryan Turek will executive produce. Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath will executive produce for Divide/Conquer. Mark Katchur and Allison Williams will also serve as executive producers. Blumhouse and Atomic Monster will produce in association with Divide/Conquer."
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Severin Spotlights Controversial Spanish Filmmaker With 3 New Blu-Rays: "(Los Angeles) On August 24th, Severin Films launches a long-overdue re-appraisal of doomed Spanish auteur Eloy de la Iglesia with individual releases of his notorious ‘video nasty’ CANNIBAL MAN and the suspense shocker NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM, plus a three-film set of Eloy’s landmark – and still startling – ‘70s teen-crime films NAVAJEROS, EL PICO and EL PICO 2 in THE QUINQUI COLLECTION.
CANNIBAL MAN:
“NOT YOUR AVERAGE NASTY…De la Iglesia may never be a household name, but his most famous film deserves renewed critical and historical attention.” - Diabolique Magazine
From subversive Spanish writer/director Eloy de la Iglesia comes the international hit and DPP 39 ‘Video Nasty’ that remains among the most notorious and misunderstood shockers of the ‘70s: When a slaughterhouse worker (Vicente Parra of NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM) accidentally kills a man during a fight, it will trigger a desperate descent into madness, mass murder and “the most horrific use of a single apartment since Polanski’s REPULSION” (Mondo Digital). Emma Cohen (CUT-THROATS NINE) and Eusebio Poncela (LAW OF DESIRE) co-star in this “unforgettable mix of Euro arthouse and exploitive sleaze” (DVD Drive-In) – also known as THE APARTMENT ON THE 13TH FLOOR and WEEK OF THE KILLER – now featuring both the International and extended Spanish Version newly scanned from the original negatives for the first time ever.
NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM:
“ELOY DE LA IGLESIAS’ MASTERPIECE…It’s a black comedy, political thriller, road movie and psychological horror film all in one.” - Vivàsvan Pictures
One year after his international breakthrough with CANNIBAL MAN, defiant Basque filmmaker Eloy de la Iglesia co-wrote and directed this twisted thriller – his last under Spain’s repressive Franco regime – that instantly made him “the father of Spanish giallo” (Spanish Fear): When a woman spies her neighbor disposing of his wife’s corpse, she will cross the line from witness to accomplice to something far more depraved. Vicente Parra (CANNIBAL MAN), Carmen Sevilla (THE GLASS CEILING), María Asquerino (THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE) and Antonio Casas (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY) star in “a must for all European film fans, with a final twist that will resonate with you for a very long time” (The Gore Splattered Corner), now featuring an HD scan from the original negative.
ELOY DE LA IGLESIA'S QUINQUI COLLECTION:
“RAW AND EXTREME…There is no other director like Eloy de la Iglesia in the history of Spanish cinema. His Quinqui films are a rabid cocktail.” - El Periodico
Short for quincallero (delinquent) and pronounced ‘kinky’, it was a brutal sub-genre of juvenile gang dramas produced in ‘70s/‘80s Spain. But for Basque writer/director Eloy de la Iglesia (CANNIBAL MAN, NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM), these three Cine Quinqui classics would become the most successful, controversial and tragically defining films of his entire career. José Luis Manzano – the charismatic street kid discovered by de la Iglesia – stars in this graphic neorealist trilogy that depicts the crime, violence and drug abuse that ravaged the post-Franco nation, and led to the filmmaker and actor’s real-life addictions to heroin – and each other – that would ultimately destroy them both. NAVAJEROS, EL PICO and EL PICO 2 are now scanned in HD from the original negatives with all-new Special Features created especially for this collection.
Special Features for Cannibal Man:
Exclusive slip case
Cinema At The Margins – Stephen Thrower and Dr. Shelagh Rowan-Legg on Eloy de la Iglesia
The Sleazy And The Strange – Interview with Carlos Aguilar
Deleted Scenes
Trailer
Feature Specs for Cannibal Man:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: English Mono w/ Partial Spanish, Spanish mono w/ Partial English
Subtitles: Spanish
Closed Captions: English SDH
Region: All
Special Features for No One Heard the Scream:
Eloy de la Iglesia And The Spanish Giallo – An Interview with Film Scholar Dr. Andy Willis
Feature Specs for No One Heard the Scream:
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Audio: Spanish Mono
Subtitles: English
Closed Captions: English SDH
Region: All
Special Features for Eloy de la Iglesia’s Quinqui Collection:
NAVAJEROS
José Sacristán on Eloy de la Iglesia – Interview with Actor José Sacristán
EL PICO
Blood In The Streets: The Quinqui Film Phenomenon – An interview with Quinqui Historians Mery Cuesta and Tom Whittaker
Trailer
EL PICO 2
Queerness, Crime, And The Basque Conflict In The Quinqui Films Of Eloy de la Iglesia – A Panel with Scholars Alejandro Melero and Paul Julian Smith, Moderated by Evan Purchell of Ask Any Buddy
Trailer
Feature Specs for Eloy de la Iglesia’s Quinqui Collection:
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1 (All films)
Audio: Spanish Mono (All films)
Subtitles: English (All films)
Closed Captions: English SDH (All films)
Region: All (All films)
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