Michael Bay Boards Ouija Flick
Michael Bay sees dead people.
The Armageddon director is planning to summon up a feature film based on Hasbro’s supernatural Ouija board game.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, Bay and scribe David Berenbaum (Elf) have set up the movie at Universal as part of the studio’s whopping six-year megadeal with the toy giant.
No word yet on the Ouija, but we’re asking the spirits to make sure the flick won’t take its cues from Tawny Kitaen’s 1986 campy thriller Witchboard.
Hasbro conjured up its take on the legendary divination method in 1966 and has since sold millions of the board game.
Bay’s production company, Platinum Dunes, has become a big player in the horror genre, with recent remakes of The Amityville Horror, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hitcher. Bay’s redo of Friday the 13th is currently shooting for a 2009 release.
Additional projects in the pipeline include a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds and an updated version of Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Legal Tide Turns Against Shore
Pauly Shore wasn’t able to weasel out of this one.
A judge on Thursday dismissed a countersuit filed by the comedian against neighbor Wes Craven over a landslide on his property he claims was caused by the Nightmare on Elm Street visionary’s lax groundskeeping.
Craven’s attorneys had argued that Shore waited too longFeb. 11, eight months after Craven sued Shore to pay for his own slope failureto file suit. The Son in Law star, meanwhile, contended he took action as soon as he had his property inspected and put two and two together.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Joanne O’Donnell granted Craven’s motion to dismiss on procedural grounds; however, she tossed the case “without prejudice,” meaning Shore’s right to sue is still intact and he can refile an amended complaint if he chooses.
The warring parties are currently trying to settle things through mediation, but, if all else fails, Craven’s case against Shore is set to go to trial Oct. 15.
Pauly and Wes Put a Horror Spin on the Hills
Welcome to the justice system's new nightmare.
Pauly Shore has filed a motion in L.A. Superior Court opposing horror meister Wes Craven's request to have the Jury Duty star's lawsuit over damage to his Hollywood Hills property dismissed.
Craven sued Shore last summer, claiming the funnyish-man failed to take neighborly precautions while renovating his backyard in 2006 and that runoff from Shore's new pool and spa contributed to slope failure in his yard.
Shore countersued in February, alleging the Nightmare on Elm Street director didn't properly maintain his own hillside vegetation and landscaping, thereby causing a landslide on Shore's lot in December 2006.
Craven subsequently claimed Shore waited too long to file suit, and now the actor has responded by arguing that he didn't know the root of the outdoor evil until he had his and Craven's respective properties inspected and tested. Then, he says, he took action right away.
A hearing on Craven's motion to dismiss is set for May 28. Otherwise, both cases are scheduled to go to trial Oct. 15.
Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes to Reboot Nightmare on Elm Street Franchise
This is what happens when you get the sniffles and ignore the beat for a couple of hours: the world of Hollywood deals starts exploding with awfulness. Something in the Elm Street-verse started feeling askew a few weeks ago when Freddy Krueger himself, Robert Englund, said he thought it was a good idea to remake Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street and perhaps pass his claw on to someone else. Word arrives today that production house Platinum Dunes (of which Michael Bay is a partner) and New Line Cinema are setting a plan into motion to completely revamp the franchise, just like they’re doing with Friday the 13th and Jason Voorhees, which starts filming in early May. Platinum Dunes have previously set their signature glossy and tan paws on The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Eric Red’s The Hitcher and the upcoming Hitchcock-remake The Birds.
A writer will not be hired for the project until after the strike, and no director is attached. Like I said, Englund probably won’t be back. Platinum Dunes can have Jason, fine. Those films are addictive T&A crowd-pleasers and I’m sure they’ll make Crystal Lake shimmer and pop like an airbrushed painting on the side of a stoner van. But ANOES needs a visionary director that will keep the 10-year-old kids who sneak into the remake up in sheer fright for years. This is real deal psychological horror, complete with dream logic, and not simply “caller’s in the house” cliche after cliche, though Craven’s film did that well, as well. I mean, can you imagine the ghostly girls jumping rope singing “3, 4 better lock your door” in Bay-protege-o-vision? Why not just ring up Larry Flynt to do the casting and work the water hose?
The blame here really goes to New Line, though. Freddy Krueger saved that studio’s arse several times throughout its history, and while a ANOES remake is never going to compete with The Hobbit for box office, is it too much to ask to hand the franchise over to a director who will leave the throbbing hormones to the other schlock that passes for horror these days? Johnny Depp might have even done a cameo if it was up to snuff. As for Englund, if he’s okay with ending his contribution with Freddy vs. Jason, who can argue? He’s not right for a water hose reimagining anyhow.