Universal Pictures 2009 Preview in Horror, Sci-Fi, Fantasy

Posted by dominie in Films, News on January 2nd, 2009

Happy New Year from all of us at Famous Monsters of Filmland. Thank you for your continued support and we look forward to a great 2009 with you! In continuation of our 2009 movie previews, below we have the lineup from Universal Pictures including Rogue Pictures and Focus Features.

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The Unborn (January 9, 2009)

Studio: Rogue Pictures
Director: David Goyer
Screenwriter: David Goyer
Starring: Odette Yustman Gary Oldman Cam Gigandet Meagan Good Carla Gugino Jane Alexander Idris Elba Rhys Coiro James Remar
Synopsis: The psychological thriller follows an 18-year-old who is haunted by a Dybbuk - the soul of a dead person barred from heaven - in the form of a young boy who perished in Auschwitz. Visit theunbornmovie.net

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Coraline (February 6, 2009)

Studio: Focus Features
Director: Henry Selick
Screenwriter: Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman
Starring: Dakota Fanning Ian McShane Teri Hatcher Keith David Jennifer Saunders
Synopsis: A high-definition stop-motion animated feature – the first to be originally filmed in 3-D – with spectacular CG effects, based on Neil Gaiman’s international best-selling book. A young girl walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life. On the surface, this parallel reality is eerily similar to her real life – only much better. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous, and her counterfeit parents (including Other Mother) try to keep her forever, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home – and save her family. Visit Coraline.com

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Drag Me to Hell (May 29, 2009)

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Sam Raimi
Screenwriter: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Jeff Lynch
Starring: Alison Lohman Justin Long Jessica Lucas Dileep Rao Lorna Raver David Paymer Adriana Barraza,Fernanda Romero Reggie Lee Alex Veadov Bojana Novakovic Bill E. Roger
Synopsis: Director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man trilogy, Evil Dead series) returns to the horror genre with Drag Me To Hell, an original tale of a young woman’s desperate quest to break an evil curse.

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Land of the Lost (June 5, 2009)

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Brad Silberling
Screenwriter: Chris Henchy, Dennis McNicholas
Starring: Will Ferrell, Danny McBride, Anna Friel, Jorma Taccone
Synopsis: Space-time vortexes suck.
Will Ferrell stars as has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall, sucked into one and spat back through time.  Way back.  Now, Marshall has no weapons, few skills and questionable smarts to survive in an alternate universe full of marauding dinosaurs and fantastic creatures from beyond our world-a place of spectacular sights and super-scaled comedy known as the Land of the Lost.
Sucked alongside him for the adventure are crack-smart research assistant Holly (Anna Friel) and a redneck survivalist (Danny McBride) named Will.  Chased by T. rex and stalked by painfully slow reptiles known as Sleestaks, Marshall, Will and Holly must rely on their only ally-a primate called Chaka (Jorma Taccone)-to navigate out of the hybrid dimension.  Escape from this routine expedition gone awry and they’re heroes.  Get stuck, and they’ll be permanent refugees in the Land of the Lost.
Based on the classic television series created by Sid & Marty Krofft, Land of the Lost is directed by Brad Silberling and produced by Jimmy Miller and Sid & Marty Krofft.
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The Wolfman (November 9, 2009)

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Joe Johnston
Screenwriter: Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self
Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Art Malik
Synopsis: Like the 1941 original that starred Lon Chaney Jr., new pic will be set in Victorian England. Del Toro will play a man who returns from America to his ancestral homeland, gets bitten by a werewolf and begins a hairy moonlight existence. Visit thewolfmanmovie.com

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The Last House on the Left (TBA)

Studio: Rogue Pictures
Director: Dennis Iliadis
Screenwriter: Mark Haslett, Carl Ellsworth, Adam Alleca
Starring: Garret Dillahunt Rhys Coiro Martha MacIsaac Riki Lindhome Sara Paxton Tony Goldwyn Monica Potter
Synopsis: John and Emma Collingwood are on vacation at their lakeshore house when, by a bizarre twist of fate, they give shelter to the sociopaths who have just assaulted and nearly killed their daughter. Upon discovering the truth, they exact a chilling revenge on her attackers…

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Thirst (TBA)

Studio: Focus Features (Universal)
Director: Chan Wook-Park
Screenwriter: Chan Wook-Park
Starring: Song Gang-ho Kim Ok-bin
Synopsis: The story about a well respected priest Sang-hyun, who falls in love with his childhood friend’s wife and who, after a failed medical experiment is turned into a vampire.  The priest’s faith can only hold for so long as his humanity withers away in this unique thriller and horror impassioned by an illicit love story.

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25/8 (Tentative title, Date TBA)

Studio: Rogue Pictures (Universal)
Director: Wes Craven
Screenwriter: Wes Craven
Starring: Max Theirot Denzel Whitaker Shareeka Epps Emily Meade
Synopsis: As legend has it, a notorious serial slayer will return to the sleepy community of Riverdale to finish off the seven children born on the night he purportedly died. But is the slayer really dead, or is he still at large? Or has the mysterious evil personality that once impelled his bloody spree entered the body of an unwary teen, who will now be compelled to do his evil bidding?

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Cirque Du Freak

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Paul Weitz
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland, Paul Weitz
Starring: John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Chris Massoglia, Josh Hutcherson, Patrick Fugit, Ray Stevenson, Michael Cerveris, Frankie Faison, Jane Krakowski, Orlando Jones, Kristen Schaal and Salma Hayek
Synopsis: Cirque Du Freak tells the frightening tale of a boy who unknowingly breaks a 200-year-old truce between two warring factions of vampires.  Pulled into a fantastic life of misunderstood sideshow freaks and grotesque creatures of the night, one teen will vanish from the safety of a boring existence and fulfill his destiny in a place drawn from nightmares.

14-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia) was like most kids in his suburban neighborhood.  He hung out with his best friend, got decent grades and usually stayed out of trouble.  But when he and his buddy stumble upon a traveling freak show, things begin to change inside Darren.  That’s the exact moment when a vampire named Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) turns him into something, well, bloodthirsty.

Newly undead, he joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring sideshow filled with monstrous creatures from a snakeboy and a wolfman to a bearded lady (Salma Hayek) and a gigantic barker (Ken Watanabe).  As Darren flexes his newfound powers in this dark world, he becomes a treasured pawn between the vampires and their deadlier counterparts.  And while trying to survive, one boy will struggle to keep their brewing war from devouring what’s left of his humanity.