Author Ray Bradbury's accomplishments are too long to mention here, but his life and incredible talents are still ever-present in art, film, and television today. Most notably known for his novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's legacy will be presented as a traveling stage show called Ray Bradbury Live (Forever), with special effects by Jeff Farley and the portrayal of Bradbury by horror legend Bill Oberst Jr. Also in today's Horror Highlights: CJ Entertainment launches 413 Pictures, Kevin Geeks Out has a new shark-themed episode, and we have details on the DVD release of Trench 11.
Trench 11 DVD Release Details: "LOS ANGELES (July 26, 2018) – RLJE Films (NASDAQ: RLJE) will release the horror film TRENCH 11 on Digital and DVD on September 4, 2018. Directed by Leo Scherman (Never Forget) who co-wrote the film with Matthew Booi (“Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan”), TRENCH 11 stars Rossif Sutherland (River), Robert Stadlober (Enemy of the Gates), and Charlie Carrick (The Devout). TRENCH 11 will be available on DVD for an SRP of $27.97.
In TRENCH 11, a highly contagious biological weapon, created by German forces in WWI, is discovered by Allied troops as they explore an abandoned underground bunker. Realizing they need to contain and destroy the threat, their mission becomes a fight for survival when one of their own is infected by the deadly parasite and begins to violently attack them. The soldiers now need to not only save themselves but must stop the outbreak before it spreads to the rest of the world.
The film has been an official selection at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, Screamfest Horror Film Festival, Morbido Film Fest, and Cinepocolypse, among others."
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Ray Bradbury Live (Forever) Release and Casting Details: "Jeff Farley's love letter to Ray Bradbury will soon be on Bill Oberst Jr.'s face. Special effects makeup artist and Primetime Emmy Award Nominee Farley has just completed the sculpt for Oberst's prosthetic transformation into Bradbury in the authorized stage portrayal of the beloved author, Ray Bradbury Live (forever.)
"This project is the culmination of four decades of professional experience, and the most exciting of my career," Farley said. "I am proud to help my friend bring his vision to life. Bill says I'm his Dick Smith and he's my Hal Holbrook. We laugh, but that really is the level of illusion we're aiming for.” Smith's prosthetics for Holbrook's Mark Twain Tonight broke new SFX ground in 1967. For his part, Oberst says he's "ecstatic" about what Farley (whose resume stretches from Babylon 5, Wolf and Demolition Man to Quarry, Pod, and Imitation Girl) is creating. "Jeff is a bit of a recluse and he's very selective," said Oberst "so I'm over the moon to have him crafting this illusion.”
The Ray Bradbury Estate authorized the show and Oberst's script in 2017, after vetting by Bradbury scholars Dr. Jonathan Eller and Dr. Phil Nichols. The success of an Off-Broadway reading convinced Oberst to plan a 2019 tour (schedule TBA.) “It's mostly solo, but Ray's wife and muse, Maggie, shows up for a scene to steal the show,” said Oberst. “The New York audience adored her, as did Ray.” Ray Bradbury Live (forever) portrays Bradbury circa 1975, at the peak of his literary and cultural influence, and is performed by permission of Ray Bradbury Literary Works and Don Congdon Associates, Inc.
Ray Bradbury's many honors include the National Medal Of Arts, a Daytime Emmy Award, multiple Hugo Awards, The National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a NASA landing site on Mars, a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. Jeff Farley's work on Babylon 5 received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Makeup For A Series. Recognition of Bill Oberst Jr.'s work includes a Daytime Emmy Award and the inaugural Lon Chaney Award for Outstanding Achievement In Horror Film, presented at FANtastic Horror Film festival by Chaney's great-grandson, Ron Chaney."
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CJ Entertainment Launches 413 Pictures: "July 30, 2018 – Los Angeles, CA / Seoul, South Korea – CJ Entertainment, Korea’s leading entertainment conglomerate, today announced the launch of a new specialty genre label – 413 Pictures.
All CJ Entertainment genre films, both English-language, as well as local-language Asian movies, will be released under 413 Pictures going forward. The label will have a broad appeal to both Asia and Western markets as its contents will incorporate horror elements from both cultures.
The name ‘413 Pictures’ is derived from ‘4’ being an unlucky number in Asia and ‘13’ being an unlucky number in the U.S.
The first films to be released under the 413 Pictures label in the U.S. will be “Hide and Seek” (going into production this fall) and “The Housemaid” (going into production next year). CJ Entertainment is developing, financing, and producing both films.
Joel David Moore (“Avatar” franchise) is directing “Hide and Seek” - a remake of the hit Korean social horror-thriller written and directed by Huh Jung and released to wide critical and commercial success in 2013. The movie builds upon themes related to the widening gap between the upper 1% and the lower class. As the population in urban areas balloon and real estate prices skyrocket, lower-income segments of society are finding themselves continually getting pushed out. This film explores the question of “what if” when those left marginalized decide to take matters into their own hands.
“The Housemaid” is an English language remake of Vietnam’s highest grossing horror film of all time. Academy Award® winner Geoffrey Fletcher is writing the adapted screenplay for CJ and 413 Pictures. The original “Housemaid,” directed by Derek Nguyen, was a massive hit with a story that explores racial and social themes through a period/romance/horror film. The remake stays true to this concept, taking place in the deep South during the Reconstruction Era.
The movie pipeline for 413 Pictures will be fully loaded as parent CJ Entertainment plans to develop, produce and finance 2-4 English-language genre films a year, along with 4-5 local-language Asian genre films a year for the label. The label is working on both original projects and remake projects and is interested in working closely with talents who have original ideas for genre films. The focus will be on elevated thriller and supernatural horror films.
CJ has been expanding mightily in Southeast Asia, making local-language films that have connected with local audiences and spurred strong box office performance. Given the success of this tailored business model, CJ has remained aggressive in pursuing local-language productions and currently has a number of films in development across territories throughout Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, that will be released over the course of the next two years. These include the Thai horror film “A Portrait of a Beauty.”
“Portrait of a Beauty”, which will go into production at the end of this year and be released in 2019, is being financed and produced by CJ Major Entertainment, a joint venture between CJ ENM and Major Cineplex Group, Thailand's largest cinema company. The adapted version will be written by Eakasit Thairaat, one of the most prominent horror screenwriters in Thailand (“4BIA,” “13 Beloved”). It will mark the feature debut of Surapong Ploensang, one of the top commercial directors in Thailand.
The company’s move to launch the standalone genre label 413 Pictures comes at a time when horror films, in particular, are drawing audiences to theaters in record numbers worldwide and reinforces CJ Entertainment’s commitment to strengthening its leadership position in global feature film productions and targeted local-language films.
Said Francis Chung, “Our vision for 413 Pictures is to produce unique and original genre films, globally and locally, as well as identifying and evaluating IP that can be remade in other territories around the world.”
Francis Chung added, “Beyond the tremendous commercial upsides to having a dedicated, branded genre label, an important aspect of 413 Pictures will be to discover and nurture emerging genre voices in Asia for both local and US markets.”
2018 has been a very active year for CJ Entertainment. In addition to closing the aforementioned deals with Geoffrey Fletcher for “The Housemaid” and Joel David Moore for “Hide and Seek,” the company optioned rights to the haunting, non-fiction best-selling book, “The Vanished” and signed Academy Award® nominee Phyllis Nagy to direct and write; and closed a deal with Drake Doremus to direct the internally developed “Aurora” –.a sweeping romantic drama with a supernatural element and a big “what if” question at its core, which Salvador Paskowitz is writing.
About CJ Entertainment
Since 1995, Korea’s leading filmmaker and distributor CJ Entertainment has provided original, award-winning content - across an array of genres, including drama, comedy, action, sci-fi/horror, and special interest. CJ Entertainment is the film studio of CJ ENM corporation, consisting of film, broadcasting, music, performance and animation divisions. The cornerstone of the Korean entertainment industry - boasting the country's largest and most significant library, with nearly 400 films - CJ Entertainment is also a singular presence throughout Asia, Europe and in the United States producing, financing and distributing local content in those respective territories. Top films include “Mother,” “The Good, the Bad, the Weird,” “The Handmaiden,” “Sweet 20,” “Satan’s Slaves,” and “Snowpiercer,” to name a few."
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Shark-Themed Episode of Kevin Geeks Out: "Comedian Kevin Maher made a new episode of his mini-series KEVIN GEEKS OUT; this installment is about SHARK MOVIES, specifically, how the real villain in the film is Mayor Larry Vaughn. The video includes a supercut of JAWS knock-offs, focusing on all the Mayor-like-figures who refuse to recognize danger because they're more concerned with making money at the beaches, the fiesta, the carnival, the gator fest, and so on.
For more episodes, visit www.LoveKevin.com"
Tamika hails from North Beach, Maryland, a tiny town inches from the Chesapeake Bay.She knew she wanted to be an actor after reciting a soliloquy by Sojourner Truth in front of her entire fifth grade class. Since then, she's appeared in over 20 film and television projects. In addition to acting, Tamika is the Indie Spotlight manager for Daily Dead, where she brings readers news on independent horror projects every weekend.
The first horror film Tamika watched was Child's Play. Being eight years old at the time, she remembers being so scared when Chucky came to life that she projectile vomited. It's tough for her to choose only one movie as her favorite horror film, so she picked two: Nosferatu and The Stepford Wives (1975).
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