CULVER CITY, CALIF. (July xx, 2010) – The bloodthirsty vampires are back October 5^th when 30 Days of Night: Dark Days — the action-packed sequel to the globally successful franchise — arrives on DVD and in a Blu-ray™ + DVD Combo pack from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.  The cast features Kiele Sanchez (TV’s “Lost”, A Perfect Getaway), Harold Perrineau (Felon, TV’s “Lost”), Mia Kirshner (The Black Dahlia, Not Another Teen Movie), Diora Baird (My Best Friend’s Girl, Wedding Crashers) and Rhys Coiro (TV’s “24”, TV’s “Entourage”).  From mega production company Ghost House Pictures, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days was co-written by Steve Niles, the creator of the original graphic novels, along with director Ben Ketai.

Both the DVD and Blu-ray™ + DVD combo pack contain special features, including filmmaker commentary and Vampires Exist: The Gritty Realism of Dark Days, a new featurette that provides an all access behind-the-scenes exploration of the production design, make-up effects and cinematography used to create the gory war on the vampires.  The Blu-ray™ + DVD combo pack is also enhanced with an exclusive Blu-ray interactive featurette, Graphic Inspirations: From Comic to Film, which compares and contrasts the visuals of the graphic novel with the imagery from the film, with discussion by director Ben Ketai.

30 Days of Night: Dark Days will be available in a Blu-ray™ + DVD Combo Pack for $30.95 SRP and on DVD for $24.96 SRP.

SYNOPSIS

It’s been almost a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow’s population was decimated by vampires during its annual month-long sunset.  Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist.  Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Coiro, Baird and Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on Stella’s sleepy Alaskan town.  With nothing remaining to live for, and nothing left to fear, Stella joins their mission and ventures into the uncharted underbelly of Los Angeles where she pushes herself to the most extreme limits to stop the evil from striking again.

DVD and Blu-ray + Combo Pack Special Features include:

• Filmmaker Commentary
• Featurette: Vampires Exist: The Gritty Realism of Dark Days

Blu-ray + Combo Pack Special Features include:

• Interactive Feature :Graphic Inspirations: From Comic to Film

30 Days of Night: Dark Days has a run time of approximately 92 minutes and is rated R for bloody violence, language and some sexual content.  Artwork and clips are available for downloading at www.SPHEPUBLICITY.COM. Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.

DVD

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About Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company.  SPE is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation.  SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; a global channel network; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of entertainment in more than 140 countries.  Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com

Los Angeles (May 5, 2010) – Ghost House Pictures announced today that Bryan Bertino (THE STRANGERS) will direct THIS MAN, an original screenplay that he will also pen. Bertino and Adrienne Biddle are partnering with Ghost House principals Sam Raimiand Rob Tapert to produce the film. Ghost House principal Nathan Kahane will executive produce. J.R. Young and Mary Lee will oversee the project for the company.

“We look forward to partnering with Bryan and Adrienne to develop this unique, hair-raising horror story that will be sure to delight horror fans,” shares Sam Raimi.

Based on real life accounts, THIS MAN follows an ordinary guy who discovers that people he has never met are seeing him in their dreams. Now he must find out why he is the source of nightmares for strangers all over the world.

Ghost House had acquired the rights to a website created by Italian sociologist Andrea Natella. The website was created to help connect those who had seen this man in their dreams and to foster communication among them.

Bertino wrote and made his directing debut on THE STRANGERS, which was produced by Roy Lee, Doug Davison and Nathan Kahane. He also wrote the screenplay for THE STRANGERS 2 which is in pre-production for Rogue Pictures. In September, he partnered with Biddle to form Unbroken Pictures, designed to produce high quality genre movies.

Bertino and Biddle are represented by CAA and attorney Jason Sloane of Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern. Attorney Adam Sinjin Park negotiated the deal on behalf of Andrea Natella. Dan Freedman and Craig A. Kessler negotiated the deals for the company.

ABOUT GHOST HOUSE PICTURES
Ghost House Pictures was formed as a joint venture between filmmakers Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Nathan Kahane and Joe Drake creating a production label dedicated to the financing, development and release of films in the horror thriller genre. The company achieved success with five consecutive #1 releases, starting with the 2004 remake of The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, which has grossed $188 million worldwide; The Grudge 2, which opened at number one in October 2006; Stephen T. Kay’s Boogeyman, starring Barry Watson, The Messengers, from acclaimed filmmakers Oxide and Danny Pang (The Eye), which was released in February 2007; and David Slade’s 30 Days of Night, an adaptation of the popular comic about vampires descending on an Alaskan town. Most recently, Universal Pictures released Drag Me To Hell in May 2009. The film, which was written and directed by Sam Raimi, stars Alison Lohman and Justin Long.

LOS ANGELES, CA October 2, 2009 – Ghost House Pictures has announced today the establishment of SPOOKY PICTURES, a production label dedicated to the financing, development, production and distribution of scary movies made for the family audience.

The first project under the new label, in collaboration with friends and partners Sony Pictures and Stars Road Entertainment’s Joshua Donen, will be THE SUBSTITUTE. Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) will scribe the remake of acclaimed writer/ director Ole Bornedal’s 2007 Danish language thriller of the same name, with Derrickson directing. The project is being developed in cooperation with Columbia Pictures, which has an option to co-finance and distribute the picture domestically. Columbia has a first-look to distribute this and future films from Spooky Pictures.

The film will be produced by filmmakers Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, the Spider-Man franchise) and Rob Tapert (30 Days of Night, The Grudge films) through their new Spooky Pictures shingle in association with Thura Films. Russell Hollander and Nathan Kahane will executive produce alongside the makers of the Danish film Ole Bornedal and Michael Obel. Tendo Nagenda and J.R. Young will shepherd for Spooky Pictures.

THE SUBSTITUTE follows a terrified 6^th grade class as they race to reveal to their parents that their new substitute teacher is an evil alien being.

Boardman and Derrickson previous collaborations include Exorcism of Emily Rose and THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. They are repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and attorney Karl Austen of Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer Austen Mandelbaum Morris & Klein. Sam Raimi is represented by CAA and attorney Craig Jacobson. Ole Bornedal is repped by WME, Danny Sherman at Principal Entertainment and attorney Andrew Hurwitz at Schreck Rose Dapello Adams & Hurwitz. Michael Obel is repped by WME. For Spooky Pictures, Rob McEntegart negotiated the remake rights and Columbia deals, and Dan Freedman negotiated the Boardman/Derrickson deal. Principal Entertainment, WME and Andrew Hurwitz brokered the deal between Thura Films and Spooky Pictures.

Release Date: January 20, 2009

Synopsis

When Sarah, a psychology student, witnesses the alleged suicide of her roommate, it sets off a supernatural chain reaction. As she tries to convince the rest of her dorm that the Boogeyman does exist, the evil force grows stronger and her friends pay the price. Now Sarah must stop this ultimate evil before the entire campus falls prey.

Cast & Crew

Directed by: Gary Jones
Screenplay by: Brian Sieve
Producers: Andrew Pfeffer
Executive Producers: Steve Hein, J.R. Young
Co-Producers: Jeffery Beach and Phillip Roth
Director Of Photography: Lorenzo Senatore
Cast: Erin Cahill, Chuck Hittinger, Mimi Michaels, Kate Maberly, Matt Rippy, Nikki Sanderson, WB Alexander, Elyes Gabel and George Maguire.

Mr. Tapert, along with his partner, director Sam Raimi, produced notable fantasy first-run syndication staples including “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.”
After “Xena” wrapped in 2001 (racking up 134 episodes in the process), Mr. Tapert said the syndie market wasn’t what it had been.

“First-run syndication was being driven into the slums,” he said, adding that the quality of first-run syndicated fare had slipped. After a lengthy run, Mr. Tapert and Mr. Raimi turned their focus toward their horror film company, Ghost House Pictures.

Several years later, Mr. Raimi introduced Mr. Tapert to Terry Goodkind’s “The Sword of Truth” book series, which both thought would translate well to television, and they turned back toward syndication as the medium.

Shot in New Zealand, “Legend” follows woodsman Richard Cypher, who discovers he has magical powers. Teaming up with the mysterious Kahlan and the wizard Zedd, the group sets out to stop an evil tyrant.

“At heart, Sam and I are independents and mavericks,” Mr. Tapert said, adding that removing the network from the equation erased a level of bureaucracy for the show to go through.

While the budget is slimmer than that of a broadcast show, syndication guarantees 22 episodes, which allows for stronger story planning, key to a fantasy-based show focusing on the characters and their journey.

“What we love about sci-fi and fantasy are the heroes and the journeys they go on,” he said. He added that sci-fi and fantasy on TV allows viewers to stay with the characters longer than a 90-minute film would.

Mr. Tapert didn’t rule out appearances of “Xena” star Lucy Lawless, his wife, or “Hercules’” Kevin Sorbo in “Legend,” but they won’t be appearing in the first 22 episodes. As for Sam Raimi pal Bruce Campbell, who shows up in nearly all of Mr. Raimi’s productions, “Legend” might be the exception.

“I don’t think he’s available to us,” Mr. Tapert said, due to Mr. Campbell’s prominent role on USA’s “Burn Notice.” But frequent collaborator Ted Raimi, Sam’s brother, is appearing in “Legend.”

Source: TVWeek.com

Tobey Maguire to return for fourth and fifth installments

In this episodes as they wait for Sara’s return, Nick and George are unaware of the danger lurking inside the house.

In this episode another terrifying encounter forces Nick to start believing there may be more to his sister’s disappearance than he could have ever possibly imagined.

Horror movies channel picked up by TW

Fearnet, the horror-movies-on-demand joint venture of Sony Pictures TV, Lionsgate and Comcast, has engineered a carriage deal with Time Warner Cable, marking its biggest transaction since the service opened for business 18 months ago.

“Hostel,” “Halloween II,” “When a Stranger Calls,” “Cujo” and “Rosemary’s Baby” are some of the service’s current titles, which Fearnet offers for free (with limited commercial interruptions) both in the on-demand platform and on the Fearnet.com website.

The Time Warner deal adds 8.4 million digital subscribers to the Fearnet roster, swelling its total to 29 million.

Fearnet’s growth in viewership has spurred it to commission Ghost House Pictures (one of whose partners is Sam Raimi) to produce original scripted miniseries, including “Devil’s Trade” and two sequels to the film “30 Days of Night”: “Blood Trails” and “Dust to Dust.” Sony also produced an original for Fearnet called “Buried Alive.”

In any given month, said Diane Robina, president of Fearnet, the service has 40 movies in the mix. Cable operators pay a monthly license fee to Fearnet and use the service as a lure to get more subscribers to buy digital boxes. Time Warner will slot Fearnet in two platforms: in its Cutting Edge on-demand channel (with other networks including Adult Swim, Anime and G4) and in its free-movies-on-demand channel.

Time Warner, Comcast, Cox and Insight are among the cable operators buying Fearnet, eager to try any means to get digital boxes into homes. These boxes are portals for new revenue generators such as high-speed Internet access, telephone service and high-definition VOD.

Advertisers who buy time on Fearnet include Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount, Fox, Sega, Unilever, Boost Mobile, the U.S. Navy and Hasbro.

Source: Variety

Ted Raimi (Spider-Man 3), the actor brother of Legend of the Seeker executive producer Sam Raimi, will guest-star in an upcoming episode of the syndicated fantasy series.

Ted Raimi will appear in the series’ fourth installment, “Bounty,” as Sebastian, a mapmaker skilled in the lost art of cartogromancy, the making of enchanted maps.

Executive producers also announced that David de Lautour will have a recurring role on the series, joining previously announced leads Craig Horner, Bridget Regan and Bruce Spence. Other recurring actors include Jay Laga’aia and Craig Parker.

De Lautour portrays Michael Cypher, brother of Horner’s Richard.

Legend of the Seeker follows the travels of woodsman Richard Cypher, who must stop a ruthless tyrant from unleashing an ancient evil and enslaving the world. The series will kick off with a two-hour premiere on Nov. 1.

Source: SciFiWire