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Interviews

Universal Revives ‘Dracula Year Zero’ Without Sam Worthington & Alex Proyas; Gary Shore To Direct

By Gabe Toro
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February 11, 2012 9:15 AM
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0 Comments

News

With movie projects dying out left and right, it only makes sense that some aborted ideas would be resurrected. Hence, "Dracula Year Zero," a dopily titled period piece about Prince Vlad, the noble-but-doomed hero who later became known as Vlad the Impaler, and later Blacula Dracula. Originally, Sam Worthington was set to star for director Alex Proyas. However, the "Dark City" helmer abandoned the film to take on the now-dead "Paradise Lost," ostensibly taking Worthington with him, and setting the stage for newbie director Gary Shore to adopt the project from a new script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 31, 2012 4:00 PM
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3 Comments

News

As if the idea of a "Candyland" movie wasn't bad enough, along comes Adam Sandler. Continuing their purge of Hasbro-related franchises -- which saw "Stretch Armstrong" go to Relativity yesterday -- Universal has let their deal on "Candyland" expire as well, as Sony Pictures and Sandler's Happy Madison production shingle will now take it on. Good lord.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 30, 2012 1:18 PM
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2 Comments

News

2011 was the year of the great purge over at Universal. A sudden round of belt-tightening saw the studio put the brakes on a number of projects ("At The Mountains Of Madness" and "The Dark Tower" among the most high profile), but no relationship was cut more severely than the one with toymaker Hasbro. With Universal in deep to the tune of $200 million for "Battleship," they wisely realized that maybe this whole turning toys in to movies thing isn't such a hot idea and over the last twelve months dropped a number of those projects that were brewing including “Monopoly,” “The Gathering,” “Magic,” "Clue" and "Ouija" (though Hasbro is continuing to develop them). And you can now add one more to the body count.

By Gabe Toro
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January 15, 2012 1:43 PM
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2 Comments

Box Office

After a year which sported the lowest attendance numbers in sixteen years, studios are looking for all the bright sides they can find. Thus far, 2012 has provided them, with big number one debuts for a cheap horror acquisition and, now, a solidly mid-budgeted star vehicle. "Contraband" nailed the top spot this weekend, of the four day holiday weekend, that was slightly down from last year. However, this is a solid win for Universal, who spent $40 million on the Mark Wahlberg project, gambling that the film would open uncharacteristically big for an R-rated January offering.

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 4, 2012 2:04 PM
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3 Comments

News

Universal had a pretty bumpy 2011, but one very bright spot on their balance sheet was the modestly budegeted, Judd Apatow produced, R-rated hit "Bridesmaids." The film was nothing short of a sensation, powering its way to $288 million worldwide, but before word could even begin to get knocked around about a sequel, the film's co-writer, co-producer and star Kristen Wiig pretty much put the kibosh on returning. She's played coy whenever asked about the prospects of a "Bridesmaids 2," but this fall her co-star in the film (and in the upcoming "Friends With Kids") Jon Hamm stated bluntly, "I don't think Kristen is going to do it."

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 12, 2011 4:53 PM
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2 Comments

News

After a year spent canceling a bunch of projects, ranging from R-rated fare like "At The Mountains Of Madness," potential awards season dramas like "Memphis," ambitious multi-platform franchise endeavors like "The Dark Tower" and a slate of bad idea brand movies like "Ouija," it looks like Univeral is ready to roll the dice on an original project once again. That it has one of the biggest movie stars on the planet in a lead role certainly doesn't hurt.