George A. Romero’s 1968 classic zombie frightener Night of the Living Dead will rise again next year as a 3-D CG-animated feature entitled Night of the Living Dead: Origins. The remake marks commercials director Zebediah De Soto’s movie debut.

Origins plot remains familiar: a group of strangers attempt to survive the night in a zombie infested town. But, De Soto is determined to bring a new scope to the genre through the CGI technology he and his effects studio New Golden Digital is working on.

De Soto tells the Hollywood Reporter:

I wanted to make this look like a living Monet; it’s expressionism. It’s going to be the first zombie movie played on a epic scale. This is the ‘Empire of the Sun’ of zombie films. … I lived through the L.A. riots and saw the city on fire; I remember seeing people running, people getting pulled out of cars. And with 9/11, these images have been ingrained on people of my generation. I just thought that is the way it would really be, a lot of chaos.

Actors Danielle Harris (Halloween), Alona Tal (“Supernatural”), Jesse Corti (“Heroes”), Cornell Womack (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen), Bill Moseley (Devil’s Rejects), and Joe Pilato (Wishmaster) have all signed on to voice Origins characters. Old school Romero fans will recognize Pilato from the legendary director’s 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead and Moseley from the 1990 Night of the Living Dead live-action remake.

Namco Bandai Games is laying out the welcome mat for fans of the man vs. demon combat classic Splatterhouse. The company is drumming up interest with a series of screen-shots from its Splatterhouse reboot. Gotta say, it looks pretty damn mean.

No guts, no glory

Originally launched in 1989, Splatterhouse is getting a much needed face-lift (more detailed violence and better bone-crushing moves) and will be out and swinging come Sept. 2010. In the meantime, enjoy the following gallery:

[Show as slideshow]

Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures has signed a seven-figure deal with 30-year-old Uruguayan director Fede Alverez to helm a giant robot invasion film based on his short Ataque de Panico (Panic Attack). The short, which had been circulating online, quickly drew the interest of Hollywood studios looking to produce the next low-budget blockbuster (think Paranormal Activity or District 9).

Alverez, a commercials director in his homeland, filmed the four minute 48 second short for a reported $300-to-$500. Raimi will mentor Alverez during the production much like Peter Jackson did with Neill Blomkamp on District 9. Ghost House is now looking for a writer to pen the script.

(UPDATE: Alverez will direct The Evil Dead remake for Ghost House)

Peep it:

Disney has announced plans to remake its 1979 classic space-adventure The Black Hole. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Mouse House has entrusted the high-profile project to the duo behind its upcoming sci-fi actioner Tron: Legacy: director Joseph Kosinski and producer Sean Bailey. Travis Beacham (Clash of the Titans) is attached to write.

The Black Hole was Disney’s first PG rated film and, budgeted at $26 million, its most expensive production at the time. The original story involved a group of explorers who board a marooned ship hovering near a black hole and encounter a mad scientist and his army of robots. The cast included Anthony Perkins (Psycho, Edge of Sanity), Robert Forster (D-War, Maniac Cop 3), Yvette Mimieux (Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell) and Ernest Borgnine (Gattaca, Escape from New York).

Disney isn’t saying much at this point, but Maximilian–the original flick’s big menacing red robot–will be back (my inner-child just got a boner).

This is the new poster for director John Favreau’s highly anticipated sequel Iron Man 2, flying into theaters on May 7, 2010. Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the titular hero and is once again joined by Gwyneth Paltrow as his love interest/assistant Pepper Potts. Samuel Jackson is also along for the ride as Nick Fury and Don Cheadle replaces Terance Howard as Col. James Rhodes, aka War Machine.

Heavy Metal

Mickey Rourke plays the villain Whiplash and upping the sex factor (sorry Gwyneth) is Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow.

"Is that a iron in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

“Lost” begins its sixth and final season on Feb. 2, 2010. According to executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, ABC promos for the beloved sci-fi series will not feature any new footage of what’s to come.

I have searched high and low all month for some kind of tease, but have come up short … until now! I have smuggled a TV spot from Spain, where the show is called “Perdidos,” via mule (what? they swim) to the U.S. Okay … the clip doesn’t contain any new scenes from the upcoming season, but it is creative and features narration from some dude who kinda sounds like Antonio Banderas. Check it out:

A second trailer for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, a re-imagining of the Lewis Carroll novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, has hit the web, courtesy of Spike TV. Watch closely and you’ll spot some new scenes.

Alice in Wonderland stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, and Mia Wasikowska as Alice. The film has a very important date at the box office on March 5. To see more images and the original trailer, click here.

Groovy news for fans of tree rape: Grindhouse Releasing has announced nationwide dates and venues for the midnight screenings of the 1981 Sam Raimi (Drag Me to Hell, Spiderman) classic Evil Dead.

The press release reads:

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – Grindhouse Releasing has set the first dates for its big-screen
revival of Sam Raimi’s EVIL DEAD, scheduled to begin in January.

Landmark Theatres will present the director’s 35mm print of EVIL DEAD at special midnight shows in Minneapolis, Denver, Seattle, New York, Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles in the first quarter of 2010.

Grindhouse Releasing has created a new full-color movie poster for the theatrical reissue of the 1981 horror classic. Designed by Tad Leger, the collectible one-sheet features rare photos from
the original EVIL DEAD movie poster shoot by Mike Ditz.

“Nothing can prepare an audience for what they are about to see, because nothing punishes an audience like EVIL DEAD — especially on the big screen,” says Bruce Campbell. “I’m really glad it’s back. People are gonna be hurt.”

Endorsed by Raimi, producer Rob Tapert, and star/co-producer Bruce Campbell, Grindhouse Releasing’s reissue of EVIL DEAD will hit theaters across North America in the coming year.

“We’ve had tremendous response to our announcement that EVIL DEAD has returned,” says David Szulkin, head of theatrical bookings for Grindhouse Releasing. “We want to show it in as many cities as we can, and encourage fans to contact us and petition their local theater to screen the movie.”

Dates and venues announced are:

January 8-9: Uptown Theatre, Minneapolis

January 15-16: Esquire Theatre, Denver

January 29-30: Sunshine Cinema, New York

February 5-6: Egyptian Theatre, Seattle

February 19-20: River Oaks Theatre, Houston

February 26-27: Inwood, Dallas

March 5: Nuart Theatre, Los Angeles

May 22: Hudson Horrorshow, Poughkipsie, NY

Additional dates and locations will be announced at GrindhouseReleasing.com. For booking info, contact David Szulkin at info@grindhousereleasing.com.

Post production has begun on John Carpenter’s madhouse thriller The Ward. The film marks the 61-year-old horror legend’s return to the big screen since 2001’s Ghosts of Mars. Lookers Amber Heard (Zombieland, The Stepfather), Danielle Panabaker (The Crazies, Friday the 13th), Lyndsy Fonseca (Kick-Ass), and newbie Sali Sayer star as patients tormented in a psychiatric ward.

The synopsis reads:

Kristen, a beautiful but troubled young woman, finds herself bruised, cut, drugged, and held against her will in a remote ward of a psychiatric hospital. She is completely disoriented with no idea why she was brought to this place and no memory of her life before being admitted. All she knows is that she isn’t safe.

The other patients in the ward, four equally disturbed young women, offer no answers; and Kristen quickly realizes things are not as they seem. The air is heavy with secrets, and at night, when the hospital is dark and foreboding, she hears strange and frightening sounds. It appears they are not alone.

One-by-one the other girls begin to disappear, and Kristen must find a way out of this hellish place before she, too, becomes a victim. As she struggles to escape, she will uncover a truth far more dangerous and horrifying than anyone could have imagined.

The Ward costars Mamie Gummer, Laura-Leigh, Jillian Kramer, Mika Boorem (The Initiation of Sarah, Kiss the Girls), and Jared Harris. (Lady in the Water, Resident Evil: Apocalypse). Echo Lake Entertainment and A Bigger Boat produce.

The Descent 2 makes its way into theaters in the U.K. on Dec. 4. The sequel to the 2005 girl-power thriller is directed by Jon Harris and sees the return of original cast members Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Jackson Mendoza, and MyAnna Buring. There’s no word yet on a U.S. release date for the film, but the following clips have been circulating the web. Enjoy!