The Word Demon

compilation of the 2009 feature film spec script market

2009-12-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Jason Scoggins, a partner at the literary management and production company Protocol, has compiled what he readily admits is a "terribly unscientific" but which I find very interesting compilation of the 2009 feature film spec script market based on information culled from public and non-public sources. The numbers do not include pitch sales or the film rights to underlying material. He found that:

• 436 spec scripts came out in 2009, of which 72 sold (17%).
• 373 specs went out wide in 2009, of which 19 sold (5%). Of those 19, only 3 sold after April 30th, out of 178 attempts during the period (1.7%).
• As for spec sals by genre, comedies led with 32% of sales, thrillers 29%, action adventures 21%, while dramas and sci-fi/fantasies tied with 10%.
• Universal and Warner Bros bought the most specs among the major buyers (6 each). But Warner Bros bought only 1 spec script in the second half of the year. Paramount & Sony tied with 5 each not counting ony's Screen Gems which bought another 3. DreamWorks had 4. 20th Century Fox had 3, but adding all its three banners, Fox bought 6 specs. Lionsgate purchased 3. New Line didn’t buy any specs in 2009.
• Relativity and Intrepid bought the most specs among the other buyers (3 each).
• In the spec market scrum among agencies, CAA made 14 spec script sales out of 34 attempts, or 41%), followed by UTA's 10 sales out of 30 attempts, or 33%, and ICM's 10 sales out of 33 attempts, or 30%. WME didn’t form until May 2009, but when you take the numbers for all three of its component companies -- Endeavor, William Morris, and WME -- the combined agency would have been a dominant #1 in total scripts sold, with 18 sales out of 47 attempts, or 38%)
• Benderspink among management companies had the most spec sales (5 sales out of 11 attempts, or 45%). Kaplan/Perrone had 4 sales out of 12 attempts, or 33%. Principato-Young made 3 sales out of 8 attempts, or 38%, while Circle Of Confusion did 3 sales out of 15 attempts, or 20%.
Scoggins also found several interesting patterns:
1. The wide spec basically died on April 30, 2009. For the first four months of 2009, 8.2% of the specs that went wide to the town ended up selling (16 out of 195). Not a great percentage, but probably to be expected, all things considered. From May through the end of the year, however, sales of wide specs fell off a cliff: 3 out of 178 wide specs sold during that period, or 1.7%.
2. Somewhat surprisingly, specs sold consistently throughout the year on a percentage basis. The Spring selling season is roughly twice as long as the Fall season: this year, there were 21 weeks in the Spring (from the end of Sundance to the week before Independence Day) versus 10 weeks in the Fall (from the week after Labor Day to the week before Thanksgiving). So all things being equal, there should have been twice as many scripts and sales in the first half of the year versus the second. But not everything was equal in the latter part of 2009: there was significant studio head turnover, plus three studios put a moratorium on development spending. Spring sales were front-loaded into the first four months of the period (41 out of the 50 sales for the first half of the year), yet roughly the same percentage of scripts on the market sold in the first half of the year (16.7%) as the second (16.2%).

Dan O'Bannon 1946-2009 [ the brains behind Alien, Total Recall and Blade Runner ]

2009-12-18T09:05:00.000-08:00

"Whydah" Pirate Ship

2009-12-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

Roy Disney Dies at 79

2009-12-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

Boeing Dreamliner... a goosebump moment

2009-12-15T12:18:00.000-08:00

The brilliant Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack!)

2009-11-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

In a rare feat for a first-time feature director, Ghost House Pictures has made a seven-figure deal with Uruguayan commercials director Fede Alvarez for his pitch for an alien invasion film. The deal was made based on heat generated by "Ataque de panico!" (Panic Attack), a four-minute, 48-second short about an apocalyptic robot attack Alvarez directed through his commercial production house for less than $500, Variety reports.

The short made its way to the Internet and was linked to by Kanye West on his blog. The 30-year old Alvarez then found the biggest agencies in Hollywood in a panic to sign him, the trade says.

After he signed with CAA, Anonymous Content and attorney Karl Austen, Alvarez made a preemptive deal with Ghost House that sets him up to make his first film under the guidance of one of his directing heroes, Sam Raimi.

The short offers a stylized vision of apocalyptic destruction that appears to have been made for far more than Alvarez spent. After Alvarez pitched an original idea for an alien invasion idea to Raimi, Ghost House closed a deal with Alvarez's new reps that guarantees him a six-figure holding deal to wait while Ghost House hires a high-end writer to turn the idea into a feature.

Stephen King Spills Beans on 'Shining' Sequel

2009-11-29T15:28:00.000-08:00

Did Stephen King accidentally announce plans to make a sequel to 'The Shining'?

According to Torontoist, the prolific author spoke to celebrated Canadian director David Cronenberg in Toronto's Canon Theatre last night and, after reading from his new novel 'Under the Dome,' "dropped a fan bombshell on the crowd by casually describing a novel idea he began working on last summer."

It turns out King may not be finished with 'The Shining,' his classic tale about the Torrance family and their strange attachment to the Overlook Hotel immortalized on film in 1980 by Stanley Kubrick. When we last saw Danny Torrance, the young boy was recovering with Wendy Torrance and Dick Hallorann (the latter, played by Scatman Crothers, died in the film but survived in the novel). Now, King stated that Danny's reactions to the events at the Overlook and how he uses his psychic powers may be fodder for an upcoming sequel, tentatively titled 'Doctor Sleep.'

According to King, Danny would now be 40 years old -- and we hope now called Dan or Daniel -- living in upstate New York and working at a hospice for the terminally ill. However, given his unique powers, he helps his patients "make that journey" to the other side.

With the exception of 'The Dark Tower' series, King is not known for revisiting his past work. Tempering expectations a bit, King said he wasn't 100% committed to the project, telling the crowd, "Maybe if I keep talking about it I won't have to write it."

So given the iconic status of the original, how would you like to see the sequel play out? Who should take over from Kubrick? And who should play Danny, now that original actor Danny Lloyd retired from acting soon after that unforgettable role?

James Cameron and Avatar on 60 Minutes

2009-11-23T17:39:00.001-08:00

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Is Roger Avary Twittering from Jail? Oscar winner gets jail time for fatal crash

2009-11-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

http://twitter.com/AVARY/

Screenwriter, director and producer Roger Avary, 44, was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail and five years’ probation for drunken driving and causing an Ojai accident that took the life of an Italian citizen who was visiting Avary and his wife.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Edward Brodie said he took into consideration Avary’s age, that he had no criminal history and what the defendant has done with his life.
“And, he has shown remorse,” Brodie said.
Avary is the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of the feature film “Pulp Fiction.”
Prosecutor Michael Lief said in an interview that the maximum sentence was 12 years and eight months, but the District Attorney’s Office was asking for six years and eight months in prison.
“I am satisfied that, in light that the court chose to put him on probation, it gave him a year in the county jail,” Lief said.
The judge said Avary can be put on the jail’s work furlough program if he qualifies, which means he can work while serving his time. He was also ordered to attend a DUI education program.
Sheriff’s officials said Avary was driving a car that slid into a pole about 12:30 a.m. Jan. 13, 2008, fatally injuring passenger Andreas Zini, 34. Avary’s wife, Gretchen Avary, 42, was ejected from the car and injured.
In August, Avary pleaded guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and to drunken driving and causing an accident.
The sentencing was attended by Zini’s widow, Maria Giulia Pavesi-Zini, and his parents, Rina and Sergio Zini, who live in Modena, Italy.
Avary’s friends and family were also in the courtroom.
During the hearing, the judge learned that Avary had reached a $4.1 million settlement with the victim’s family.
Zini’s family and his best friend, Alberto Reggiani, told the judge about the pain of losing a loved one and how much he meant to those who knew him. In a letter addressed to his dead friend, Reggiani described his widow’s suffering.
“She is still shaken,” Reggiani said. “She loved you with all her heart.”
Zini was a Red Cross volunteer, his family said in an impact statement to the court. Relatives sobbed during the sentencing.
Lief told the judge that after five hours of conversation and alcohol at a restaurant, the three headed to the Avary home, which was two miles away. Pavesi-Zini got into another vehicle with a friend.
The car was going more than 100 mph on a two-lane road when Avary lost control, Lief said. An hour after the accident, Avary had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent, which is above the .08 level at which California law considers a driver intoxicated, Lief said.
Avary said he is deeply sorry for what happened and takes full responsibility for it. He said he will mourn, every day, the death of Zini.
“It has profoundly altered me to the very core of my being,” Avary said, sometimes breathing heavily.
His attorney, Mark Werksman of Los Angeles, told the judge that Avary hired a lawyer to get his insurance company to quickly settle a civil lawsuit filed by Zini’s family.
Werksman said that 138 letters of support for Avary were filed with the court. “I have never seen such an outpouring of love and support and respect,” he said.
Werksman asked for Avary to be allowed on the work furlough program so he could continue two film projects. “There are people depending on him.”

KISS: 35 years

2009-11-22T12:11:00.000-08:00

Kiss is a band that needs no introduction, as the face-painted, pyro-loving, blood-spitting rockers have been at it for more than three decades.
To celebrate the 35th anniversary of its February ’74 self-titled debut, the ever-popular concert attraction, founded by frontmen Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, has been out on its worldwide KISS Alive/35 Tour, which stops Tuesday at Honda Center in Anaheim and Wednesday at Staples Center in L.A.
Still, none of these reasons to return were needed to get the band back on the road. “It’s always a good time for Kiss,” Stanley said during a phone interview last week, in the same breath noting that he was only wearing a robe. He, Simmons, guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer were enjoying a rare day off during this latest leg of their lengthy tour, between gigs in Canada.
After months of performing in ginormous arenas throughout Europe, Australia and South America, Stanley says the band is excited to bring its newest spectacle to North America.
“These have been the biggest and best shows we’ve ever done,” he boasts, noting that “besides getting raves from fans, we’ve been suspiciously getting good reviews from the critics. I have a feeling that either they just got pummeled into realizing that we’re the right way to go, or the critics who gave us bad reviews have all been fired.”
Of course, original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley have once again acrimoniously parted ways with Stanley and Simmons, splitting over financial and creative matters shortly after Kiss’ career-reviving reunion tours of the late ‘90s. Filling in are longtime Criss replacement Singer, who has served behind the kit for the better part of 20 years, and seven-year Kiss veteran Thayer.
“It isn’t our first tour with this lineup,” Stanley points out. “Quite honestly, once again the philosophy has turned out to be true that the band is not about any particular individual. The band is a way of thinking. It’s a frame of mind, it’s a mantra -– it’s living up to everything that Kiss is supposed to be.
“Kiss should be timeless. It shouldn’t depend upon specific people being in the band.”

CUTTING OUT THE CLUTTER

Sonic Boom, released on Oct. 6, took just four months to create, from songwriting to completed recording –- remarkably fast for a band that had to squeeze in sessions while touring South America throughout spring. By June, the guys had hunkered down inside L.A.’s Conway Studios to cut the disc quickly.
Stanley says he “wanted to make a Kiss album that was really steeped in our heritage but is also a statement of today and for tomorrow. I thought it would be great to go into the studio, provided I could produce the album, because (Psycho Circus) was such an unpleasant experience. It sort of soured it for us.”
The trouble with the previous collection was a case of too many leaders, not enough followers. “I mean, even in a car someone has to drive -– if everyone just has their hands on the steering wheel it crashes. Democracy in the studio is vastly overrated. Everyone should have an opinion, but at the end of the day someone has to make the decisions.
“We’re about making a great Kiss album, instead of being about what kind of music each person likes, or the idea that everyone is entitled to a quota of songs on an album, or entitled to sing because they’re in the band.” (That said, for Sonic Boom Thayer takes the lead vocally on “When Lightening Strikes” while Singer steps up with “All for the Glory.”)
Having one chief overseer, Stanley says, is the healthiest way for Kiss to work in the studio –- and as such, the recording process was effortless this time. “We wrote on our days off from the tour, and when we were recording, nothing got past a first or second take.”
Times certainly have changed since ’74 –- and so have Kiss’ luxuries. Like other touring giants, the band now flies around the world on a private jet. “It allows us to stay based in a city longer and fly out every day and do more shows,” Stanley explains.
“Those early times are great, though, because they toughen you up and make you appreciate the rewards. If you’re just getting everything from the beginning, then what’s there to work toward?”

ROUGH ROAD TO THE HALL OF FAME

Stanley, soon to be 58, insists that when he and Simmons, now 60, formed what would become one of the most successful (and often reviled) bands of the ’70s, one that served as a dividing line between baby boomers and their offspring, he never could have foreseen all the spoils that have come their way. He still doesn’t take any of it for granted.
“At that point (in the ’70s) there was no precedent for this sort of thing. There weren’t bands that had lasted more than five to seven years, so the idea of a band lasting 35 years … no, no, no. There was a time when rock ‘n’ roll was so disposable.
“Mind you, there’s still an element of it now, where you have almost a product-manufactured artist or band that would have an appeal for only a certain period of time, and then they’re replaced. If we weren’t Kiss, and we weren’t doing these great shows and constantly building on what we’ve done, we wouldn’t still be here.
“There’s a lot of commitment to what we do. We live in our own shadows. We’ve made a career out of not competing with anything but ourselves.”
And, at last, they’re on the verge of receiving one of rock’s highest honors.
Not that Kiss entirely cares.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” Stanley says, “because the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is like a private club. It’s a group of people, mainly critics and a couple of record executives, who got together and came up with a terrific name that sounds very official and very impressive, even to me. But it’s not a reflection of the public’s taste. You only have to look at some of the people who have been inducted, and you go, ‘Who? But what about this band … or this one?’
“Yet there have been people fighting so hard to get us in. So should they want to induct us, I’ll be there, absolutely. It would be an insult to the people who have fought for us to get in to not show up.”
All the same, he adds, “I’m also very proud of the people who have been fighting to keep us out of there, too. That’s part of what makes us so great.”
Studio photo by Glenn La Ferman, for KISS Records. Live shots by Fernando Vergara, The Associated Press.

The House that Alex Cross Built

2009-11-22T11:08:00.000-08:00

If you'd like to be an author with a nice house, write thrillers. The best author houses I've seen belong to the thriller writers. Today's home in Palm Beach Florida belongs to James B. Patterson. According to the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties column Patterson calls his beautiful home with frontage on the intracoastal waterway the house that Alex Cross built, referring to his popular psychologist main character. Patterson used a wood-paneled office with a water view (outfitted with plenty of Patterson books in the listing pictures) as his writing studio. The turquoise and white kitchen currently decorated with a collection of gleaming copper pots has the type of farmhouse style appeal one doesn't usually see in lavish Palm Beach homes. Outside there is a terrace surrounding a heated pool with spa ,built-in barbecue and a dock with boat lift. This home is listed at $14.95 million.

Patterson is moving his family to an even bigger home, a two-acre Palm Beach estate, with a 20,505-square-foot main house which he picked up for $17.45 million over the summer.

Bentley Continental GT Supersports 2010

2009-11-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

The Art of Tim Burton

2009-11-18T13:14:00.000-08:00

Very few original (bold) stories make the big time...

2009-11-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Here's the list, including studio, year of release and worldwide gross. Original film titles are in bold:
1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (New Line; 2003) $1,119,110,941
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (Disney; 2006) $1,066,179,725
3. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.; 2008) $1,001,921,825
4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Warner Bros.; 2001) $974,733,550
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Disney; 2007) $960,996,492
6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros.; 2007) $938,212,738
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Warner Bros.; 2009) $929,022,922
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line; 2002) $925,282,504
9. Shrek 2 (DreamWorks; 2004) $919,838,758
10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.; 2005) $895,921,036
11. Spider-Man 3 (Columbia; 2007) $890,871,626
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Warner Bros.; 2002) $878,643,482
13. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (20th Century Fox; 2009) $878,615,229
14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (New Line; 2001) $870,761,744
15. Finding Nemo (Disney/Pixar; 2003) $864,625,978
16. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox; 2005) $848,754,768
17. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Paramount; 2009) $833,229,011
18. Spider-Man (Columbia; 2002) $821,708,551
19. Shrek the Third (DreamWorks; 2007) $798,958,162
20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Warner Bros.; 2004) $795,634,069
21. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount; 2008) $786,636,033
22. Spider-Man 2 (Columbia; 2004) $783,766,341
23. The Da Vinci Code (Sony/Columbia; 2006) $758,239,851
24. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Disney; 2005) $745,011,272
25. The Matrix Reloaded (Warner Bros.; 2003) $742,128,461
26. Transformers *DreamWorks/Paramount; 2007) $709,709,780
27. Ice Age: The Meltdown (20th Century Fox; 2006) $655,388,158
28. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Disney; 2003) $654,264,015
29. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (20th Century Fox; 2002) $649,398,328
30. Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks; 2008) $631,736,484
31. The Incredibles (Disney/Pixar; 2004) $631,442,092
32. Hancock (Columbia; 2008) $624,386,746
33. Ratatouille (Disney/Pixar; 2007) $623,707,397
34. The Passion of the Christ (Newmarket; 2004) $611,899,420
35. Mamma Mia! (Universal; 2008) $609,841,637
36. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (DreamWorks; 2008) $603,900,344
37. Casino Royale (MGM/Columbia; 2006) $594,239,066
38. War of the Worlds (DreamWorks/Paramount; 2005) $591,745,540
39. Quantum of Solace (MGM/Columbia; 2008) $586,090,727
40. I Am Legend (Warner Bros.; 2007) $585,349,010
41. Iron Man (Paramount; 2008) $585,133,287
42. Night at the Museum (20th Century Fox; 2006) $574,480,450
43. King Kong (Universal; 2005) $550,517,357
44. Mission: Impossible II (Paramount; 2000) $546,388,105
45. The Day After Tomorrow (20th Century Fox; 2004) $544,272,402
46. Madagascar (DreamWorks; 2005) $532,680,671
47. The Simpsons Movie (20th Century Fox; 2007) $527,071,022
48. Monsters, Inc. (Disney/Pixar; 2001) $525,366,597
49. WALL-E (Disney/Pixar; 2008) $521,268,237
50. Meet the Fockers (Universal; 2004) $516,642,939

Anne Rice to David Kirkpatrick (even the Greats can be abused by the Hollywood system)

2009-11-16T09:19:00.000-08:00

Saturday, May 26, 2007
Anne Rice to David Kirkpatrick.

David,
I’ve received the beautiful white flowers and your two page handwritten letter. This is what happened as I see it. Repeated efforts on the part of my lawyer and my agent failed to obtain payment for the rights to Christ the Lord, and for the rights to the script that you wanted me to write. Phone calls from my agent and my lawyer to you revealed that you did not have the money to pay for the rights.

In view of the financial situation you described to Christine and to Richard, and in view of their long record of trying to obtain these payments, I could only draw one conclusion. --- You were not paying me as you had agreed to do. And you did not have the funds to make good on your promises, and you did not have the funds to make a film. We had been talking together about this project for a year. At no time did you tell me you were having financial problems. At no time did you reveal to me that you were unable to make good on your promises. On the contrary, you gave the impression over and over again that you were solvent and actively working on the film. Reviewing the long record of talks and activities, I could only conclude that you had misled me and deceived me. At times, obviously you had some money to work on this project. You claimed to be developing in Israel, you ran expensive ads in Variety, you talked of plans to start pre-production on June 1st. ---- Yet at no time did you pay me for the rights or for the script. As a consequence, I simply withdrew from the project. I asked for nothing. No damages, no compensation for the time and efforts I’d put into this. I simply withdrew. I withdrew because I felt that you could not make this film and that something was gravely wrong with Good News Holdings and with the picture being given to me verbally over and over again. I withdrew to protect my books from further involvement with a company that had misrepresented itself as solvent and misrepresented its intentions to go forward on the film.

What followed were a series of letters from you, which destroyed any trust or faith I had left. These letters were shocking. These letters came across to me as dishonest, distorted, and deliberately threatening. You deliberately misrepresented your conversation with Christine Cuddy. Your letters used words like “quitclaim” and “sue” and were filled with attempts to bully, intimidate and threaten legal action. David, I could never work with the person who wrote those letters. I could never work with some one who seems to think that legal threats would make me come back to the table with my books on Christ the Lord. I believed in you because you represented yourself as honest and decent and able to make these films. But my worst fears came true. Not only hadn’t you paid me, but clearly, you had made the decision not to pay repeatedly, using the funds in other ways.

As I look back on it now, the entire enterprise on your part looks like a scheme. I wonder if you ever intended to pay me. Did you have some idea that you could draw me deeper and deeper into the project and then make a demand on me for funds? Were all the things you did --- the reading in the desert, the ads in Variety, the public announcements --- actually attempts to draw investors and donors to give you money that you did not have? Were my name and the name of my book used to raise money from people? If so, what did you do with the money you received? You certainly didn’t pay me. Was Mel Gibson’s name used to string me along? How can I believe now that your statements about Mel Gibson were true? If Mel Gibson had agreed to direct this film, how would you have paid him if you couldn’t pay me? Was Mel Gibson a mark, too? Did you want him to come in as an investor and save the project? Was that the way it was presented to him? What, in fact, was presented to him? Again, I ask, was his name used to string me along? Regarding the script, your letters about this have so thoroughly alienated me that the damage cannot be repaired. I didn’t want to write the script. You assured me the work that you and Brendan were doing was the work of producers on a film and did not require credit. You lured me into this situation and you know you did. --- I appreciated your work, and I re-wrote the script completely and entirely producing what I felt was an organic and working script. I spent as much time on this script as I spent on the script of Interview with the Vampire for which I received Sole Credit from the Writer’s Guild. I do not recall incorporating anything from your material except material that was in the book. I do not recall using a single creative solution or fictional construct from your material that was not in my book. Then comes these letters from you --- after all your assurances that your efforts had been legitimate for a producer --- insisting that you and Brendan had written multiple drafts, speaking of a quitclaim, and secrecy regarding my being “the face” of the script. This was odious and ugly and threatening. The subtext was obvious. You saw yourselves as co-writers. You were willing to use your work in a possible lawsuit. David, I could never again trust you or those who work with you. I have been sued three times in my life and each time I chose not to counter sue, but I did defend myself and the suits were ultimately a failure for those who instigated them.

If you proceed against me in a court of law, be aware: I will defend myself. I will depose you and all your employees to determine to what degree you misrepresented yourselves to Rich Green and to me, and to what degree you used my name to raise money, and what you did with that money. I will depose you as to why you went to Parable Books with The Road to Cana and why you talked to Knopf about your experience with Parable, as to whether it was an attempt to raise funds. You never moved to acquire the rights to The Road to Cana. Nevertheless, you took this book to Parable Books, and I was told and Knopf was told that you wanted “a cut.” What can this possibly mean, David? You never moved to acquire underlying motion picture rights to the book in question. How could you tell my publishers that in connection with this book, you wanted a cut? All this will have to be explained in court – the use of The Road to Cana, the failure to make an offer for it to Rich Green, the failure to pay me for the rights to the first book. It looks bad, David. Very bad.

I will depose you as to Elizabeth Avellan and why she was involved. Was it an attempt to keep up appearances of a solvent company when in fact, you could not pay me the money you owed me? Was Elizabeth privy to this? Or was she used?

I will have everyone questioned under oath as to why I was never paid. I will have everyone questioned as to whether there was ever any intent to pay me. Was I seen as a potential investor? Was I a mark? And be assured, once this process is begun by you, I will never settle out of court. I truly mean this. I will never settle out of court. I have never settled, and I will never settle. I will never reward your act of suing with coming to the table and being intimidated or threatened by you into giving you what you have dishonestly tried to get. Your lies and tactics are odious to me. I will never let you acquire by litigation what is rightfully mine. So if you pursue this ugly path, if you make good on your distasteful threats, be prepared to go to the Supreme Court. I will defend the right of a writer to withdraw from a company that has not paid what it promised to pay. I will defend the right to withdraw from what I saw as a dishonorable situation which may indeed have involved criminal fraud. I will have no hesitation in making it clear to my public that I myself am not suing, and would never sue, that I am defending myself as I must.

David, you broke my heart. We talked all the time. You could have told me what your financial situation was. You could have been open with me about the delay in payment. But you never did that. And I can only conclude there was dire reasons why you weren’t open with me. David, that was wrong. I trusted you. You let me down. And when I withdrew, you resorted to the ugliest tactics at your disposal. In your letters, you mingled Christian language and biblical references with your distortions and threats. I grieve for our friendship. I grieve for the dream of making the film. But, frankly, I don’t think you had the money to begin preproduction in Israel or to pay a director or to proceed on this film. I thank God I found out in time.

Please don’t contact me anymore. Please do not under any circumstances come to my house. Again let me remind you: If you proceed in court, you will be making a grave mistake. I take seriously the biblical injunction against suing and I will defend myself to the full extent of the law.
Anne

Extended Wolfman Trailer

2009-11-15T18:53:00.000-08:00

Wolfman Trailer

2009-11-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

New posters for Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland" and Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus"

2009-11-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

Spielberg, Hanks talk HBO's 'The Pacific'

2009-11-09T20:35:00.000-08:00

Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein

2009-11-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein

Writer: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Artist: Bernie Wrightson
Introduction by: Stephen King
Publisher: Dark Horse
About the Book:
Few works by comic-book artists have earned the universal acclaim and reverence that Bernie Wrightson's illustrated version of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein was met with upon its original release in 1983.
Twenty-five years later, this magnificent pairing of art and literature is still considered to be one of the greatest achievements made by any artist in the field. Now, Wrightson and Dark Horse Books are collaborating on a beautiful new hardcover edition of the book, published in a larger 9" x 12" format intended to show off the exquisitely detailed line art of one of the greatest living artists in comics today.
This book includes the complete text of the original ground-breaking novel, and the original forty-seven full-page illustrations that stunned the world with their monumental beauty and uniqueness.

* The original edition of this book is nearly impossible to find. Don't miss your chance to enjoy one of the most talked-about books of the last twenty-five years, Bernie Wrightson's Frankenstein.

Lovecraft Unbound: Tales Inspired by HP Lovecraft

2009-11-09T13:54:00.001-08:00

Lovecraft Unbound: Tales Inspired by HP Lovecraft
edited by Ellen Datlow

Publisher: Dark Horse

About the Book:
The stories are legendary, the characters unforgettable, the world horrible and disturbing. Howard Phillips Lovecraft may have been a writer for only a short time, but the creations he left behind after his death in 1937 have shaped modern horror more than any other author's in the last two centuries: the shambling god Cthulhu, and the other deities of the Elder Things, the Outer Gods, and the Great Old Ones, and Herbert West, Reanimator, a doctor who unlocked the secrets of life and death at a terrible cost. In Lovecraft Unbound, more than twenty of today's most prominent writers of literature and dark fantasy tell stories set in or inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft.
Among the contributors are multiple New York Times best-selling authors Michael Chabon and Joyce Carol Oates, award-winning writers Brian Evenson and Marc Laidlaw, Caitlín R. Kiernan, and many others. Edited by multiple-award-winning editor Ellen Datlow.

Praise for the Book:
The 16 new and four reprint stories Datlow (Poe) assembles for this outstanding tribute anthology all capture what Dale Bailey praises as horror master H.P. Lovecraft's gift for depicting the universe as inconceivably more vast, strange, and terrifying than mere human beings can possibly imagine. Bailey and Nathan Ballingrud, in The Crevasse, evoke this alien sensibility through an Antarctic expedition s glimpses of an astonishingly ancient prehuman civilization preserved in the polar ice. Laird Barron's Catch Hell depicts a Lovecraft-type backwoods community in the grip of a profoundly creepy occult mythology. Selections range in tone from the darkly humorous to the sublimely horrific, and all show the contributors to be perceptive interpreters of Lovecraft's work. Readers who know Lovecraft s legacy mostly through turgid and tentacled Cthulhu Mythos pastiches will find this book a treasure trove of literary terrors.
-- Publishers Weekly

The new Retro 51 Disney Collection

2009-11-08T09:54:00.001-08:00

Steven Tyler quits Aerosmith

2009-11-08T09:50:00.000-08:00

Aerosmith are on the verge of splitting up after members revealed they are tossing up whether to call it a day or replace front man Steven Tyler. The singer signalled he is ready to work on solo material, and the rest of the band are considering their options. Although the group's 40th anniversary is less than a year away, a growing wedge appears to have grown between the band and their frontman. After injuring himself in a fall off stage in August, the band were forced to cancel gigs in America. Steven Tyler returned to front gigs in Hawaii and Abu Dhabi last month, but in a post-gig interview with Classic Rock magazine, he indicated he was ready to focus on his solo career.

The 61-year-old said: 'I don't know what I'm doing yet, but it's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler: working on the brand of myself - Brand Tyler.' The rest of the band reportedly plan to meet soon to discuss 'either the announcement of a long hiatus or carrying on with a new lead vocalist'.

2012 new clip

2009-11-05T09:01:00.001-08:00

Stephen King latest

2009-10-27T10:10:00.000-07:00