sequel

We're still just under two months away from the release of Platinum Dunes' reboot of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, yet we've already heard the pre-release rumblings of a sequel. Stars Rooney Mara and Jackie Earle Haley have both confirmed they've signed on to do a second outing if one were to get the go-ahead, but that's not the case for director Samuel Bayer.

/Film chatted with the helmer recently, and he states that even if the film does well, he'd not return for a second installment. Instead, he tells the site, "I really hope the film does well. I will not be involved in a sequel...I don't want to have my next movie be a horror movie. I'm already looking at stuff and I think I'm probably going to do a– it might be an action movie, or there's a comic book they want to make into a film I'm very attracted to. But I think I'm going to move on and let someone else handle the next one, and it'll be great."

What does this mean? Maybe nothing. Platinum Dunes still hasn't gotten the Friday the 13th reboot sequel off the ground, and they've been trying to do that for over a year. However, should Freddy score a second outing, it appears as though there will a different guy calling the shots from behind the camera. That could be a bad thing, since the most impressive part of the Elm Street clips for me has been Bayer's visual style.

A Nightmare on Elm Street aims to make sure you never sleep again on April 30th.

According to an LA Times feature from last week chronicling the career of director Wes Craven, the auteur was all squared away to direct Scream 4 beginning this May. I even wrote about it here, and we called the story "confirmed". Turns out it's not entirely accurate--and we can't trust the LA Times.

Craven took to Twitter to set the record straight--sharing the following: "SCREAM 4 - LA Times has it wrong. I'm still in talks but nothing has been finalized."

This doesn't mean Craven won't wind up directing the fourth installment in the franchise--I'd be amazed if he didn't--but it's not a done deal yet. We have no idea what the hold up is, but the cynics amongst us are speculating that this might be another sign that The Weinstein Company is in dire financial straits. If they can't lock up Craven, things could be very bad indeed.

Keep it here for the latest on the Craven-Scream 4 saga.

Our Horror Squad pal Mike Bracken tweeted yesterday that Lionsgate has announced April 27 as the DVD release date for the long-awaited The Descent Part 2. What, you actually expected LG to release this one in theaters? After the "releases" they put together for Midnight Meat Train, Horsemen, Blood Creek, and Train? Not bloodily likely. Unless it's a Saw sequel or a festival pick-up (like Buried), our old friend Lionsgate seems to have forsaken the horror genre. (And if you're holding out some hope for Cabin Fever 2, don't. It's abysmal.)

Or maybe The Descent Part 2 just sucks eggs? The flick was released theatrically in France last October, and in the UK in December. The Independent gives the flick 2 out of 5 stars, but our pals at the genre blogs seem a little more enthusiastic: Dread Central gives it three knives out of five, Brutal as Hell goes 4 out of 5, and Quiet Earth goes all the way up to 8.5 out of 10.

All I know is that I adore the original as much as Peter Hall hates it, and if the follow-up is at least half-decent and entertaining (kinda like Halloween 2 and Jaws 2) then I'll be a happy guy. Oh, but the DVD cover is kind of a mess. I've included a piece up top, but check out DVDActive for the full pic.

Cult icon and genre legend Bruce Campbell is back in the news with an announcement for his latest project (and no, it's not Evil Dead 4, although Sam Raimi's schedule is a lot more open today than it was a few weeks ago...). Bruce tells AICN that he's ready to work on the sequel to his cult hit My Name is Bruce. This time out, Campbell's not fighting an undead Chinese warlord, but instead a more classic monster: Frankenstein.

No word on why they changed the title (I thought My Name is Still Bruce was funnier), but Campbell states in the press release that principal shooting will begin this coming fall in Oregon. No word on how the plot might shake out, but c'mon--it's Bruce Campbell. Expect lots of silly slapstick, groan-inducing jokes, and Bruce being Bruce. That's usually a winning formula.

Head over to AICN to read the official press release. We'll keep an eye on this one and bring you more as it develops.

All it takes is one solid remake (like this one) to generate one half-hearted prequel (like this one), but now that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre property has moved over from New Line / WB / Platinum Dunes to the production company known as Twisted Pictures (creators of the Saw series) we can expect a small jolt of energy from the new producers. (I hope.) The fact that the next Chainsaw is being considered for the 3-D treatment has me feeling a little annoyed, but of course it's unfair to knock a project before it's finished. And this one's not even finished the screenplay stage.

Shock has a few words from producer Mark Burg on where he'd like to see Leatherface go for his next flick, and here's a key passage: "What we're going to do with it is bring it to 2010 ... Make it current day and come up with a new story that takes some of the basic plot points, if you will, and make it a current day movie. I don't want to make another Chainsaw in the '70s, that doesn't thrill me." Now, before you crucify the guy for daring to take the Chainsaw out of the '70s, think about it: I agree with Mr. Burg. No matter how iconic that setting is ... it's been done (and done damn well) several times already. The screenwriter on the clock is Mr. Stephen Susco, he of both American Grudge flicks and the solid indie thriller Red.

So the Platinum Dunes fellows managed to bat .500 with this legendary horror franchise. Only seems fair to give the new guys the same shot. For more on the early stages of the next Chainsaw outing, check STYD.

On a recent visit to the Chicago-based set of the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake, producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form gave us online types a good hour with which to poke and prod about that film and countless other projects in the works. The Elm St. stuff will have to wait until the time is right, but at the moment, you're just a hop, skip and jump away from finding out where Platinum Dunes currently stands with a Friday the 13th sequel, their present involvement in reported remakes of The Birds and Rosemary's Baby, and how exactly the little-seen Horsemen ended up slipping through the cracks last spring...

If you feign surprise when you hear that a Friday the 13th Part 2 is in the works, you're officially insane. This year's F13 remake is based on a series that spans no less than 12 chapters, so it's pretty much assumed that the remake will earn its own sequel relatively soon. (But the Platinum Dunes guys are knee-deep in their Freddy remake, and remakes take priority over ... sequels. I guess.)

Anyway, the ridiculously large man who now plays Jason Voorhees is also a ridiculously nice guy, and he recently chatted with FEARnet about the inevitable sequel: "I don't know what they are planning on doing for the sequel, honestly, but in my opinion, I think less is more. If you just touch on aspects of his past, it's like the monster outside of the box theory; it's scarier when you don't know. I myself wouldn't want to see what he was like when he was younger. I would like to touch on it, but then move on." I think that's Mears (subtly) smacking the Halloween remake, and if that's the case, then Yay Derek says I.

Click here for the full interview, and don't forget that Marcus Nispel's version of Friday the 13th hits DVD next week.

By Jessica Barnes -- 3/18/09 -- Cinematical

Fine, I'll admit it: I sat down and watched the craptastic sequel to Lost Boys, The Tribe. Lord knows I wish I hadn't, but it was the film equivalent of a train wreck and it was just too hard to look away. But even I have my limits, so I'm not sure what to think about the latest bad idea from Warner Premiere: Lost Boys 3. Bloody Disgusting announced that Warners has given the go-ahead for another direct-to-DVD sequel, and have hired Evan Charnov (Fearless) to pen the script.

According to BD, Edgar Frog (aka Corey Feldman) will be back, along with the lesser known Frog, Jamison Newlander. So instead of trying for a re-tread of the first film like last time, Charnov's script is going to focus on the Frog brothers (and why, oh why, didn't they just do this in the first place?) But the Frog brothers will probably be the only familiar faces coming back for another go round, because I highly doubt that anyone will be knocking on Corey Haim's door after what happened the last time. There is no release date for Lost Boys 3 so far, but let's be honest with ourselves -- this kind of straight-to-DVD flick can probably be knocked out in a weekend.

So what do you think? Maybe if we all pretend that Lost Boys 2 never happened we'll finally get the sequel we deserve. Then again, maybe we should all turn away and pretend like the whole thing is just a bad dream ... a very bad dream.

By Jessica Barnes

There's nothing quite like the phrase 'straight to DVD' to kill a film's chance of a little dignity, is there? The first thing that usually crosses my mind is, "It must be pretty bad if they aren't even willing to put it up on the big screen" -- which might be a tad unfair of me, but no one ever said gut reactions were fair. Hopefully this time I'll be proven wrong, because in a conversation with MTV Steve Niles (co-creator of the original graphic novel, 30 Days of Night) confirmed that a sequel to the 2007 vampire flick was already in the works, and that it would most likely be going direct to DVD.

According to Niles, a script has already been submitted, and he is hard at work on the project with Ben Ketai (director of the 30 Days webisodes). The sequel will be based on the comic book follow-up Dark Days, and the story centers on "the character of Stella Olemaun [who] heads to Los Angeles after surviving the vampire attack in Barrow, Alaska. She intentionally attracts the attention of the local vampire population in order to avenge the death of her husband, Eben, during the Barrow incident."

After the jump find out how Sam Raimi got involved and the possibility of a 30 Days franchise...