Whether or not you were a fan of the supernatural thriller “Insidious” or the “Paranormal Activity” series, there’s no doubt that the films have been turning a pretty hefty profit, and there’s been a pretty positive response from audiences. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to slow down soon for those films’ producer, Jason Blum. As he preps his next untitled horror film, he also has Rob Zombie’s “Lords of Salem” starting production soon, along with Barry Levinson’s intriguing eco-thriller “The Bay” waiting to scare our pants off or disappoint us horrifically.
The former, currently untitled horror film just found a bit of star power according to the Hollywood Reporter. Ethan Hawke has signed onto the film that will be directed by “Exorcism of Emily Rose” helmer Scott Derrickson. Derrickson co-wrote the script with C. Robert Cargill, who’s perhaps better known as an Ain’t it Cool News contributor and for appropriately calling Kevin Smith “irrelevant.” Anyways, they’re apparently keeping a tight lid on the plot, but shooting starts September 19, so there’s plenty of time for further details to surface.
It’s hard to say anything nice about Derrickson’s previous outing as a director, the Keanu Reeves-infused remake of the “Day the Earth Stood Still,” but “Exorcism of Emily Rose” did have a few decent scares even if it wasn’t a good film all the way through. It’ll be interesting to see what a fellow film blogger like Cargill will bring to the script, and if Blum’s golden touch when it comes to horror will pay off once again. While one of The Playlist’s writers wasn’t too fond of the Blum-produced “Insidious,” this writer found it to be a fun little spook show, and Blum definitely knows an original horror premise when he sees one. As for Hawke, who recently wrapped a role alongside William Hurt in the Encore telepic “Moby Dick,” we’re guessing he was picked to be the equivalent of Patrick Wilson in “Insidious” in this film, offering a recognizable and inviting face to audiences who may be a tad to scared to enter a darkened theater.
As long as this is more “Insidious” and less “Paranormal Activity,” we’re open to the idea of having another original horror film in theaters. There is no set release date, but we’d be willing to guess around next April, the same time frame that gave “Insidious” to a horror-starved audience and helped make it the most profitable film of the year thus far.
