Latest news with #BloodyDisgusting
Perth Now
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Zach Lipovsky teases twists and surprises in Final Destination: Bloodlines
'Final Destination: Bloodlines' viewers will immediately be "thrown for a loop". Director Zach Lipovsky - who has helmed the movie with Adam Stein - has offered some teases about the sixth installment of the horror franchise and told how the opening sequence will differ to what has come before. He told SFX magazine: 'For this film, the first premonition takes place in 1969. "There are lots of deaths during the premonition, which is what normally happens in the opening sequence of a 'Final Destination' movie, but we then come out of the eye of a different person in the modern day. That's new. "For a lot of fans, I think that's going to immediately throw them for a loop. It's going to make them lean forward to try and figure out what's going on.' And as the film progresses, the directors found "delight" and making it unpredictable as to who would die next. Zach added: "As moviegoers, we love it when you have to lean forward in your seat because a movie is being unpredictable. We switch up a lot of the predictability, including who's going to die next and how they are going to die. You might think it's one person, but it's not. There's a delight in that.' Meanwhile, James Wong - who directed the original 2000 'Final Destination' and 2006's third movie - recently admitted he didn't expect the franchise to run for as long as it has, but he is "super happy" that it is still going. He told Bloody Disgusting: "I thought the fifth was the end, the capper, because it kind of reverted back to the first one, but I'm super happy that they're doing it. "I have no idea what the sixth one's about. I'm excited to learn as well as, hopefully, the audience. Craig [Perry, franchise producer] says people love the trailer and people love the movie in test screenings, so I'm excited for it. "To be honest with you, I never expected that movie would go beyond the first one, so I'm just tickled. "''Final Destination' delivers on a film-to-film basis. I think that's why it survived." Reflecting on what makes 'Final Destination' different to other horror series, the director explained his franchise focuses on the personification of death as the true antagonist, rather than a singular villain, such as Freddy Krueger or Jason from the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' and 'Friday the 13th' franchises respectively. He said: "Other franchises are based on the charisma of the killer, or the lack of charisma sometimes. The teenagers are really just fodder for the kill, and the fun is watching how Jason or Freddy kills them. "For 'Final Destination', death itself is interchangeable within our lives. It could come from any direction. You don't have to be at Camp Crystal Lake in order to to encounter the killer. The killer's all around us. "I think that idea is what makes it long lasting. It could be anything in the room that you're in or the place that you're travelling."
Perth Now
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Predator: Badlands director Dan Trachtenberg teases ‘big, crazy swing' with sci-fi movie
'Predator: Badlands' director Dan Trachtenberg has teased he's taken a "big, crazy swing" with the upcoming movie. The sci-fi flick will put the titular alien hunter at the forefront of the story as its hero, and the 43-year-old filmmaker has now promised 'Predator: Badlands' will be a unique take on the beloved action franchise. In an interview with Bloody Disgusting, Trachtenberg said: "It's a big, crazy swing, and I think that's what drives butts into seats. "If you want the same old Predator experience, you can hit play on 'Predator' or 'Prey' or any other, whichever one is your fit." 'Predator: Badlands' follows the young Predator Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) after he has been outcast from his clan and sent to a remote planet where he forms an unlikely alliance with Thia (Elle Fanning) as the pair search for the ultimate adversary. While the director didn't reveal any specific details about the character Fanning will be portraying, Trachtenberg explained he had used story concepts from video games like 'Shadow of the Colossus' to craft Thia and the dynamic she has with the Predator. He said: "As inspired as I am by movies, I've been very inspired by video games [like] 'Shadow of the Colossus', where you have a protagonist paired with someone else who provides color and connection. "There's a thing with a horse in 'Shadow of the Colossus' that's devastating when you play the game. And so ['Predator: Badlands'] was a little bit inspired by that in terms of wanting to see the Predator with someone else, this character who's the opposite of him. "He's very laconic, [Thia] is not. She's capable in ways that he is not. Physically, she's got a real thing that I'm so excited for you guys to see. But I want to let eventually some of that speak for itself." Trachtenberg added 'Predator: Badlands' would be more character-driven than previous 'Predator' movies, and would centre on the titular alien hunter. He explained: "I never thought [the Predator] was Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger. "They had a code [like] hitmen or crime underworld 'Goodfellas'. I felt like there was something cool to explore within that culture that's different than just adding a bunch of stuff on top of it. "It felt like we're mining [concepts] as opposed to just throwing [more] at the franchise." As for what inspired 'Predator: Badlands', Trachtenberg revealed he had pulled ideas from a variety of different films for his movie - which is slated for release in November. He said: "There's a Frank Frazetta, 'Conan the Barbarian', Spartan thing … but also you think of 'The Book of Eli' or 'Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior' … 'Shane', [very] western, very Clint Eastwood-y." The director concluded he wanted 'Predator: Badlands' to "feel genre" and "feel very specific" with its tone and story. He said: "I wanted to make it feel genre, feel very specific, and an inversion of the [main] premise - now the Predator is on [another] planet, and he's going to be hunted by things and has to use his guile to [survive]."
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cineverse Expands Existing Line of Credit Facility with East West Bank to $15 Million with a Three-Year Term
Additional Capital Ensures Cineverse will be Well-Positioned Moving Forward as it Continues to Invest in Content to Build Off its Recent Box Office Success LOS ANGELES, April 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Cineverse Corp. (Nasdaq: CNVS) ("Cineverse", "us", "our", "we", and the "Company"), a next-generation entertainment studio, today announced that it has expanded the size of its existing line of credit facility with Pasadena-based East West Bank from $7.5 million to $12.5 million, expandable to $15 million, and extended the term from one-year to three-years at an interest rate of Prime plus 1.25% (8.75% currently with a $0 current balance). "Closing this expanded credit facility with our long-term collaborators at East West Bank allows us to make content and other investments that are critical to our top-line revenue growth," said Chris McGurk, Cineverse Chairman and CEO. "The team at East West Bank, including Managing Director David Acosta, have been great to work with and we greatly appreciate their help and support over these past several years." This further strengthens the Company's balance sheet without equity dilution. It comes following Cineverse's recent reporting of a successful fiscal third quarter. About Cineverse Cineverse (Nasdaq: CNVS) is a next-generation entertainment studio that empowers creators and entertains fans with a wide breadth of content through the power of technology. It has developed a new blueprint for delivering entertainment experiences to passionate audiences and results for its partners with unprecedented efficiency, and distributes more than 71,000 premium films, series, and podcasts. Cineverse connects fans with bold, authentic, independent stories. Properties include the highest-grossing non-rated film in U.S. history; dozens of streaming fandom channels; a premier podcast network; top horror destination Bloody Disgusting; and more. Powering visionary storytelling with cutting-edge innovation, Cineverse's proprietary streaming tools and AI technology drive revenue and reach to redefine the next era of entertainment. For more information, visit Contacts: For MediaThe Lippin Group, cineverse@ For InvestorsJulie Milstead, investorrelations@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Cineverse Corp.
Los Angeles Times
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The traditional indie film system is hurting. This executive says he's built a winning formula
Chris McGurk saw the writing on the wall for the independent film business more than a decade ago. His distribution company Cinedigm released 'Short Term 12,' starring Brie Larson, to rave reviews in 2013. Hardly anyone showed up to see it in theaters. 'We probably lost $4 million on it,' McGurk told the Times. 'At that point, I said, we gotta stop doing this. Let's see if we can build a new machine.' So the firm pivoted its focus, spending years assembling and growing its collection of 'new media' assets — streaming channels, a podcast network and its own ad technology. It used those online channels, social media and its horror fan site Bloody Disgusting to wage a microbudget campaign for Damien Leone's gory underground killer-clown horror sequel 'Terrifier 2' in 2022, grossing nearly $11 million at the domestic box office. Last year's follow-up, 'Terrifier 3,' did even better for the Los Angeles-based company, now called Cineverse: $54 million in North American ticket sales and $90 million worldwide. Now the company is trying to fill its release slate with similar intellectual-property-driven movies that can leverage that same system, including a Legendary-produced revival of the Troma cult classic 'The Toxic Avenger,' starring Peter Dinklage (set for Aug. 29). Cineverse's success comes at a time when many people believe the traditional way of releasing movies — with broad-based, expensive national ad campaigns — is broken for some types of movies. Certain films still do good business, including big action spectacles, low-cost horror pictures and animated movies. But indie releases and mid-budget films are increasingly risky. Those themes will surely be much discussed this week at CinemaCon, the movie theater industry's annual trade show in Las Vegas. With that in mind, I spoke to McGurk, who joined the company in 2011 after stints at Overture Films and MGM, about why his model is well suited to the digital age and what Hollywood might be able to learn from it. How does your business model allow you to lean further into theatrical releases at this perilous time? The all-in investment for 'Terrifier 3' was less than $5 million in acquisition costs and marketing spend. If you take the theatrical marketing costs out of the mix, it fundamentally changes the economics, not just for us but for producers and filmmakers. This is something that non-Hollywood people don't understand. Often, for smaller movies, the marketing spend is a much bigger cost than making the film. If you read a recent interview with Tom Quinn, CEO of Neon, that's exactly what he said. They spent $18 million on 'Anora,' and it was a $6 million movie. In our case, the producers were sitting behind a less-than-$5-million investment on our part, and they're pretty happy right now. We've already added three movies to our release schedule. One is 'The Toxic Avenger,' which Legendary produced and we picked up. Our all-in investment in that will be less than $5 million. And $5 million is low for a Legendary Pictures movie. It was originally rated R, but we put some stuff back in it, and now we're going to take it out unrated, just like we did with 'Terrifier,' because we think there's a fan base out there that basically is saying 'screw it' to all the rules and regulations and the MPA [Motion Picture Assn.]. They want to see a raw, uncut movie. The movie was in the can in 2023 and it went to Fantastic Fest and got great reviews, but the studios couldn't figure out how to release it. So part of our campaign is, 'We're giving you the movie that the big studios didn't want released or couldn't release.' And we'll go right after the 'Terrifier' audience, even though this isn't exactly a straight horror movie. It's a Troma movie. That's really the only way to describe it. We also have 'Silent Night, Deadly Night,' which is a remake of the movie in the '80s that they banned from theaters. And then we also announced 'Wolf Creek: Legacy,' the third in that series. The goal is to maybe get up to as many as eight wide releases a year. I know it's kind of counter to what everybody else is doing, but we're going to keep applying our formula until it doesn't work. And that formula is what? It's really saying, we've got this collection of new-media assets that we own and control, so how can we leverage that in order to drive media value and awareness? We think on 'Terrifier 3' we probably created $5 million to $7 million in media value without spending a dime beyond the cost of producing the ads, which isn't that much. You're able to do this because you are small by design, compared to the studio players. And I think we're willing to throw out all the rules and leverage these assets. We're not going through a middleman. If you're the head of marketing at a studio, your new spending plan is to do everything you did before, but do a little less of it. Studios often won't do mid-budget movies because they're so challenging financially. Are there ways to be smarter about marketing those films? I think we're onto something. I hate to make the comparison, but it's analogous to how Trump won. He went with the podcasts and very targeted spending, TikTok and digital spending and things like that. Whereas Kamala Harris followed more of a national media buying approach but lost. The problem is, every executive in that business is trying not to screw up. So it really does stifle innovation and risk-taking. How do you target the marketing for 'The Toxic Avenger?' We're going to use our own ad technology to identify where the fan base is for this type of movie — the Troma fans. And we're going to place ads to target that audience and market it on our podcast network as well. The other thing that we've had real success in doing is creating stunts and promos that have attracted a lot of attention. For 'Terrifier 3,' we had a guy dressed up as Art the Clown walking through Times Square the week before our movie opening, and looking up at a billboard of the Joker. For 'Toxic Avenger,' we did a stunt where they dyed the Chicago River green for St. Patrick's Day and we had Toxie on a boat with his mop going around to clean it up. You've got the Troma geeks, but you've also got Macon Blair directing, who has a following. With 'Terrifier 3,' our whole thing was, how do we expand the audience beyond the people who went to see 'Terrifier 2'? So we spent a lot of time really focusing on the Hispanic audience and the African American audience, and almost half the viewers on opening weekend were Hispanic. Then it was trying to figure out how we could have group attendance and increase our female attendance. And we did that in two ways. One was, we tried to make Art the Clown this must-see character and not focus on the gore. Sort of what we did with 'Hannibal' back at MGM, where we sold Hannibal Lecter as the James Bond of serial killers. And then toward the end, we really did the whole 'You've got to see this movie, because everybody's going to be talking about it.' So we need to do that here. We need to make sure that Troma fans go to see the movie. But we need to expand out of that and focus on the comedy and the actors to try to get more of a female audience and more group attendance. That's key to the decision to go unrated, right? You're going for a 'You really shouldn't be seeing this' kind of appeal. The studios can't really release an unrated movie, because they're signatories to MPA. It gives us a real advantage, because we really don't care. There's a space for filmmakers to do things outside the traditional system. The thing is, we didn't have final cut on the 'Terrifier' films, and we were fine with that. Let him make his movie. That's our approach. When I was at MGM, I was trying to get Christopher Nolan to do [James] Bond, and the Bond producers would not give him final cut. Now he's Christopher Nolan times five. Well, now they'll have another chance with producers Amy Pascal and David Heyman in charge of 007 for Amazon. He'll get final cut now, but it's 20 years too late, in my view. Anything to add? Just one important point. I hated how everybody on Wall Street and in the entertainment press set up this big thing of 'streaming versus theatrical,' with streaming being the villain, because it was helping to destroy this great institution in America. What we tried to do with the 'Terrifier' movies is show that there could be a symbiotic relationship between the two. We use streaming and the podcasts to basically help make a theatrical success in a unique and different way, and hopefully everybody can do more of that. FCC chair opens investigation into Disney and ABC for DEI practices. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has opened an inquiry into Disney and ABC's DEI programs, marking the second investigation of a major media company. Jen Salke is out at Amazon MGM Studios. Salke said she would start her own production company after leaving her perch at the company. She had some major hits like 'Reacher' but was criticized for her spending on shows including 'Citadel' and for mishandling the Bond franchise. How California legislators aim to sweeten film tax credits for Hollywood. The proposed legislation would increase to 35% the amount of qualified production the credit would cover. Los Angeles has been losing productions to other states and countries with generous programs. Republicans grill PBS, NPR chiefs as Democrats mock proceedings. The two public media entities have become frequent targets in the GOP's efforts to reduce government spending. There was grandstanding about drag queens and jokes about Elmo. Inside Paramount's bumpy sale: the president, a scion and a possible sheikh. 'They have to get [the deal] approved,' said Mario Gabelli, a longtime Paramount shareholder. Gabelli and others are eager for a new chapter, but the Skydance deal has turned into a fitful slog. ICYMI: In a surprise, Jason Statham's mid-budget action movie 'A Working Man' was No. 1 at the U.S. box office last weekend with $15.2 million, topping Disney's troubled 'Snow White.' That live-action remake grossed $14.2 million, a 66% drop from a disappointing debut that generated poor word-of-mouth. 'A Working Man' comes at an interesting time for Amazon MGM Studios, which last week announced the departure of leader Jennifer Salke after seven years. Film head Courtenay Valenti, the former Warner Bros. film executive who joined Amazon in 2023, now will report directly to Salke's old boss, Mike Hopkins. Local shoot days were up 5% last week compared with a year ago, according to FilmLA data. Listen: Alison Krauss and Union Station released their first album in 14 years. No surprise, it's excellent.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fans devastated by Saw XI update just six months before planned release
Fans of the Saw horror film franchise are responding to reports that the latest instalment, Saw XI, is unlikely to meet its September release date and could even be cancelled altogether. Saw XI was initially scheduled for release in September 2024 but this was later pushed to September 2025. Lionsgate confirmed Saw XI in December 2023, shortly after the release of Saw X in September that year. Producer Oren Koules told SFX Magazine at the time that the sequel would be a follow-up to Saw X, as 'Cecilia is still alive and Tobin and Shawnee are in a foreign country still'. 'So that, to me, would be the natural place to take at least the next one,' he said. Kevin Greutert, who directed Saw VI, Saw 3D and Saw X, was set to return for Saw XI, as were the stars Tobin Bell, reprising his role as John Kramer or the Jigsaw, Shawnee Smith as Amanda Young and Costas Mandylor as detective lieutenant Mark Hoffman. The newest film, however, appears to have been 'totally dead' for almost a year, Bloody Disgusting reported, adding that fighting between producers was to blame. 'It's totally dead. It's 100 per cent over. Almost a year now,' an unnamed source told the outlet. 'Everything went sideways in January 2024,' the source added, 'the producers started fighting'. One producer tried to 'plow forward' with the film, the report said, but the other 'put up roadblocks' and Lionsgate 'didn't have anyone to smooth over the disagreement'. 'Greed and ego won,' the source said. The Hollywood Reporter carried a similar update, with more information from Saw XI screenwriter Patrick Melton, who also wrote Saw IV, Saw V, Saw VI, and Saw 3D. Melton, along with writing partner Marcus Dunstan, said he turned in a draft of the script for Saw XI in spring 2024, but hasn't 'heard anything' since then. 'We haven't heard anything since May. It's stalled at a managerial level. It has nothing to do with the creative or anything else. There's higher-level things at play,' Melton said. 'Saw XI may or may not be made, but we have a very timely story in it, and I hope it gets made just because of that. It taps into the same themes of Saw VI, where you're a citizen, you feel angry and frustrated with something, you feel like you can't do anything, and John Kramer's going to do it. 'The reason it's held up is just, there's inter-squabbling between producers and Lionsgate. They just can't quite get on the same page.' The franchise launched in 2004 and, after grossing $104m (£80m) on a budget of just $1m (£770,573), spawned multiple sequels, the last of which, Jigsaw, was released in 2017. A spin-off starring Chris Rock, titled Spiral: From the Book of Saw, was released in 2021. Fans of the longtime gory horror franchise are understandably upset, especially considering Saw X went on to gross $125m (£96m) worldwide on a budget of $13m (£10m) and opened to positive reviews from critics. In The Independent's review of Saw X, critic Clarisse Loughrey said: 'Ten films in and it's a routine we're so intimately familiar with that it'd be hard to call any element of Saw X original but returning director Kevin Greutert knows what'll satisfy his audience: a few buckets of blood and the gag-inducing sound of crunching bone. Here, they'll get exactly what they want.' Responding to reports that the film's production has stalled, one fan wrote on X: 'That sucks. I fell in love with the franchise after seeing Saw X. I couldn't believe how good it was, so I went back and watched all of the movies. It's now my second favorite horror franchise behind Halloween.' SAW 11 has been cancelled so what's the point in living anymore. goodbye cruel world — jas :3 (@dcbatsy) March 17, 2025 'I hear Saw 11 might be cancelled. I was really looking forward to this movie, it actually is one of my most anticipated movies of the year. It's already been delayed, as it was supposed to come out last year,' said another. Talk about FUMBLING the bag. Saw X put the franchise back on the map. And at an all time high too. 11 should've been a no-brainer. — Lewis (Taylor's Version) (@lpowell092020) March 17, 2025 'Talk about FUMBLING the bag. Saw X put the franchise back on the map. And at an all-time high too. 11 should've been a no-brainer.' The Independent has reached out to representatives of Lionsgate for comment.
