Michael Dougherty

COWBOYS & ALIENS Team of Jon Favreau, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman Reunite for Government Sci-Fi Series EX-COMM

by Ethan Anderton    Posted: October 5th, 2011 at 10:17 am

Though Cowboys & Aliens didn’t really land with much pomp and circumstance, director Jon Favreau and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have plenty of great projects between them like Iron Man and Star Trek. Now Deadline reports the trio are teaming up again for a new pilot called Ex-Comm, a series described as a sci-fi drama with plenty of humor. Kurtzman is only executive producing the series with his collaborator Orci, but the latter will be writing the series with Favreau as well as Seth Green and Superman Returns and X2 writer Michael Dougherty, all of whom will also serve as executive producers.

It’s a strange assembly of writing talent, but the series sounds pretty cool as it’s said to follow a newly-elected President and his top secret Executive Committee (a.k.a. Ex-Comm), the government’s covert team of America’s most elite minds who investigate and protect our nation from the strangest occurrences and “conspiracy theory truths” out there. The series is described as a presidential procedural crossing the paranormal suspense of series like The X-Files and the politics of The West Wing, but with some fun and humor mixed in. Hopefully it turns out better than The Event, a series which seems to share some elements with this new series, but already I’m more confident in this new pilot than the canceled NBC series.

1492 Pictures and CJ Entertainment to Produce THE GRAVEYARD BOOK and Other Projects

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 28th, 2010 at 9:12 am

Last December, we reported that Neil Jordan (The Brave One) would be adapting Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.  It’s been quiet since then, but today Heat Vision reports that Chris Columbus’ 1492 Pictures and South Korean company CJ Entertainment are coming on board to help produce the film.  They’ll join producers Wayfare Entertainment, Framestore, and Gaiman.

Graveyard Book is like Ruyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” except the boy (named “Nobody Owens”) is raised by ghosts in a cemetery instead of animals in a jungle.  He has a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy – an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.  Also, if he leaves the graveyard, he will be attacked by a man named Jack has already killed Nobody’s family.  It won the 2009 Newberry Medel and spent over 50 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.  An adaptation of Gaiman’s book Coraline managed to grab $124 million worldwide last year along with an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Film.  I’d say 1492 and CJ Entertainment have made a wise investment.  Hit the jump for two other projects they’re investing in.

TRICK ‘R TREAT DVD Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: October 19th, 2009 at 7:10 am

The story behind Trick ‘r Treat is almost as interesting as the film itself. Finished in 2007, the film got caught up in some politicking and marketing concerns. Not a very expensive movie – after being sneaked in LA, and shown at Butt-Numb-a-Thon – it’s just now coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Somewhat unfairly. My review after the jump.

TRICK R TREAT Roundtable and Screening – Comic-Con 2009

by Nico    Posted: July 24th, 2009 at 1:31 pm

If you’re a fan of the horror genre, you’ve been anxiously awaiting the release of Michael Dougherty’s directorial debut, Trick R Treat.  Thankfully, the end is nigh and I had the opportunity to sit down for a roundtable discussion with writer-director Michael Dougherty and cast members Lauren Lee Smith and Brian Cox for some inside scoop. More after the jump –

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