Pinhead No Match for the Writers Strike

Bad news today for all you Cenobite fans. Box Office Mojo is reporting that MGM's remake of Clive Barker's 1987 classic Hellraiser has been temporarily derailed. Originally slated to come out in September, the Weinsteins' produced flick has now been bumped to an undetermined 2009 release.
The delay in production would appear to be a result of the ongoing WGA strike, which has also reportedly stalled Eli Roth's next project, Trailer Trash.

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The issue with the Dawn of the Dead music tracks from yesterday's post has been resolved. Feel free to check them out!

The Wolf Man Remake Is a Go!

Universal monster fans can breathe--or howl--a sigh of relief. After weeks of uncertainty surrounding this project thanks to the ongoing WGA strike, Bloody-Disgusting broke the news this morning that the Mark Romanek-helmed remake of the 1941 classic The Wolf Man is back on track. Filming will begin on February 8 in London, and B-D also reports that additional casting is also underway.

To date, Benicio Del Toro has been cast in the starring royal of Larry Talbot, with Sir Anthony Hopkins playing Talbot's father (a role originated by Claude Rains) and Emily Blunt as the female lead. Make-up effects will be handled by the master himself, Rick Baker, who follows in the footsteps of the legendary Jack Pierce (seen here applying the original iconic get-up to Lon Chaney Jr.)

Depite the glut of horror remakes being put out right now, this is one project that I--and I think most other fans--continue to be very intrigued with. The big question is, how were they able to get this project off the ground again when it had previously been reported that the script was unfinished? Hmmm...is it possible that Baker might not be the only person on this project applying scabs?

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Folks, The Vault of Horror continues to grow in leaps and bounds. I'm proud to report that yesterday, thanks to the fine people at BlogBurst, this little blog was picked up for the first time by Reuters, that bastion of all things newsworthy. I've officially gone legit!

Horror Authors Unite to Support Writers' Strike

The strike of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) has of course been the talk of the American entertainment industry of late. Recently, the Horror Writers Association (HWA)--a respected 20-year-old fraternity of genre authors most known for its yearly Bram Stoker Awards--publicly declared its support of the strike. On their website, and in messages dispatched throughout the business, they have stated the following:

"The Horror Writers Association, on behalf of its writer members, stands in support of the Writers Guild of America strike in seeking appropriate compensation for writers when their work is distributed digitally, either via DVD or Internet downloads. Although HWA is not a union, it is an organization of writers that advocates for authors' rights. Writers Guild of America and its demands fall solidly into this category. All writers will be affected by the outcome of this strike, and we stand in solidarity, resisting those who seek to distribute our work on the Internet, DVD, or any format without fair compensation."

The HWA counts the likes of Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, Brian Lumley, Peter Straub, Clive Barker and Richard Matheson among its members. To learn more about the group, go to horror.org.

Writer's Strike May Put a Silver Bullet in The Wolf Man

The writers' strike is the talk of the entertainment world these days, and the horror genre is certainly not immune to its effects. Naturally, the strike is a direct threat to those projects which are still in the development stage. According to an article in Variety today, the most high-profile horror project now in jeopardy is the Wolf Man remake starring Benicio Del Toro and Anthony Hopkins.
Apparently, the project was still awaiting script approval from Universal at the time the strike began. This means that it can't go before the cameras until the strike is resolved. Worst case scenario, it could mean the project gets canned completely, if say, the actors are no longer available, or it becomes too costly to keep the project on hold.
I'll be keeping a close eye on this one. The Wolf Man is something I've been looking forward to more than any other horror flick in production, and it would be a real shame if Hollywood politics prove even more deadly than wolfbane.