Ghost House Pictures

Sony Pictures Acquires BZRK for Sam Raimi; Davis Films Picks Up Teen Fantasy Series HOUSE OF NIGHT

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: November 2nd, 2011 at 3:28 pm

Studios continue the search for the next great teen franchise to fill the void left behind by Harry Potter and Twilight. Today, two novel series have been picked up for film adaptations. BZRK, by author Michael Grant, has been acquired by Sony Pictures as the first of a trilogy for Sam Raimi and Josh Donen at Stars Road. The premise pits a team of guerilla-group teenagers against supervillain conjoined twins, with both sides battling it out through the use of nanobot warriors.

The wildly successful House of Night series by mother-daughter authors P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast has been acquired by Samuel Hadida of Davis Films. Firmly entrenched in vampire mythology, the series follows teenager Zoey Redbird as she journeys to the House of Night boarding school where she is trained to survive as an adult “vampiyre.” Hit the jump for more on both projects.

Official Announcement of THE EVIL DEAD Remake; Federico Alvarez Writing and Directing, Diablo Cody Doing Script Revisions

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: July 13th, 2011 at 3:30 pm

It’s official: The Evil Dead remake is alive and well. Ghost House Pictures announced today that Sam Raimi and original producing partners Rob Tapert and Bruce Campbell are onboard to remake the horror classic. Following Campbell’s enthusiastic confirmation of the remake yesterday, we reported that Uraguay-native Fede Alvarez would be helming the film, and today’s press release confirms the director’s involvement. Apparently Raimi and Tapert were so impressed with Alvarez’s short film Panic Attack that they signed him to a blind deal, and shortly thereafter attached him to write and direct the Evil Dead remake. Hit the jump for more details, as well as the full press release.

Playwright David Auburn to Write Adaptation of THE CASEBOOK OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 23rd, 2011 at 3:53 pm

Following in the footsteps of vampires and zombies, it looks like Frankenstein may be Hollywood’s next supernatural obsession. Pulitzer-prize winning playwright David Auburn (Proof) has been tapped to adapt Peter Ackroyd’s novel The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein. The story focuses on a young Frankenstein who spends his days experimenting with corpses. Mary Shelly, who wrote the original novel and created the character, appears as a character in Ackroyd’s book alongside her mother. Deadline reports that RT Features and Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures will produce.

This is one of a number of Frankenstein-centered projects currently in development. Summit acquired the rights to Kenneth Oppel’s upcoming novel This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein, Sony is working on a contemporary version of the story, and Guillermo del Toro has been working with Universal on an adaptation for quite some time. Hit the jump to read a synopsis of Ackroyd’s novel.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan to Star in Horror-Thriller DIBBUK BOX

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 13th, 2011 at 9:40 am

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is set to star in the horror-thriller Dibbuk Box for Lionsgate and Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures.  Lionsgate has already set the film’s release for October 28th, a Halloween weekend now absent their Saw franchise.  Danish director Ole Bornedal (The Substitute) will direct a script by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White based on true events.  According to Variety,

“Morgan will star as a recently divorced father whose youngest daughter becomes strangely connected to an antique wooden box she purchased at a yard sale. As his daughter’s behavior becomes more erratic, the father senses a dark presence building until he discovers that the box was built to contain a dibbuk — a dislocated spirit that inhabits and ultimately devours its human host.”

While many folks probably don’t know what a Dibbuk is (unless they saw A Serious Man), I suppose Dibbuk Box is a better title than Yard Sale Ghost.

Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures Turns R.L. Stine’s THE SITTER into Dana Stevens’ THE AU PAIR

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: October 6th, 2010 at 10:49 pm

Dana Stevens is set to write a thriller under the working title The Au Pair for Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures.  Stevens previously teamed with Raimi in 1999 to write For the Love of the Game, which Raimi directed.  Stevens’ Au Pair script is based on the 2003 R.L. Stine novel The Sitter, but as you may recall, that title has already been locked up (cinematically speaking) by Jonah Hill and David Gordon Green.  This is the second film based on the Stine oeuvre announced in recent weeks, following the unveiling Columbia’s Goosebumps adaptation.

Stevens’ screenplay revolves around a young woman who lands a summer job as a nanny at a Hamptons beach house: “This dream job takes a frightening turn when she uncovers a dark secret that haunts her and the kids she’s sworn to protect.”  Hit the jump for the official announcement.

Bryan Bertino to Write and Direct THIS MAN for Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 5th, 2010 at 4:17 pm

Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures has hired Bryan Bertino (The Strangers, seen right) to write and direct This Man.  The film is based on the real life accounts on a man who discovers that people around the world are seeing him in their dreams.  He then sets out to find why he is the cause of all their nightmares (my theory: he’s the star of whatever Internet meme you find most horrifying).

The project was based on a website by Italian sociologist Andrea Natella.  Natella wanted to connect people who had seen the man in their dreams  and to foster communication between them.  Did she create YouTube?  Because if my theory is correct, she created YouTube.  But in all seriousness, the whole project was most likely a hoax since Natella was a sociologist who specialized in marketing.  However, it is a cool premise for a movie.

Hit the jump to read the full press release.

Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Makes High-Priced Deal with Fede Alvarez Based on His Low-Budget YouTube Short, PANIC ATTACK!

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: November 29th, 2009 at 9:01 pm

Heat Vision reports that Fede Alvarez, a Uraguayan filmmaker who created a YouTube hit with his low-budget sci-fi short, Panic Attack!, has signed a deal with Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to develop and direct an original genre project.  While Panic Attack! only cost several hundred dollars, his deal with Ghost House is reportedly in the six- against seven figure range (meaning that he’s being paid $X00,000 and if the film gets made he gets a bonus amount which would bring his salary to $X,000,000).  The same day Alvarez posted his video, Hollywood came calling as they were impressed with what he was able to accomplish with such a low budget.

Alvarez’ short is less than five minutes long and is about robots invading and attacking the city of Montevideo.  That’s all that happens in the movie.  The robots invade and then they attack.  The end.  I do understand and congratulate what Alvarez on his success and his movie is technically impressive, but the story here isn’t Alvarez.  It’s the power of YouTube to create a calling card so fast and powerful that you can nab such an incredible deal.  The reason that’s the story and not Alvarez is because I’ve seen far better YouTube short films and Ghost House seriously overpaid this guy which is ironic since the whole point of hiring him is for his low-budget chops.  I’ve included the video after the jump and while I think it just looks like something a Lil’ Michael Bay would make, maybe you’ll feel differently.

Neil Marshall and Sam Raimi Are About to BURST in 3D

by Jackson Bishop    Posted: October 9th, 2009 at 11:05 am

With his Roman soldier survival flick, “Centurion”, still yet to released, Scottish writer/director Neil Marshall, the man behind brilliant horror flicks “Dog Soldiers” and “The Descent”, and the less than brilliant mash up of every post apocalyptic future movie ever, “Doomsday”, has already set his sights on his next project. Marshall will next be tackling “Burst”, a 3D picture to be produced by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert’s Ghost House Pictures. That’s right, Sam Raimi and Neil Marshall working together. That’s pretty effing terrific if you ask me. Go ahead and hit the jump to read more and for a short synopsis of the flick.

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