Rumor out of Cannes is that tabloid-darling Lindsay Lohan is attached to star in director Ryuhei Kitamura’s (The Midnight Meat Train) latest frightener Black Friday 3-D.
The film centers on the family and friends of a murdered couple as they set out to find the killer responsible.
Lohan is currently working on a cinematic comeback in between cocaine binges. The 23-year-old party machine managed to score a possibly topless role in Robert Rodriguez’s upcoming grindhouse-thriller Machete.
Lohan’s first foray into horror was in 2007’s serial-killer drama I Know Who Killed Me. She played stigmatic twins with very large breasts.
British babe Rhona Mitra has survived the apocalypse in Neil Marshall’s Doomsday and faced-off against vampires and werewolves in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. But, now, she’s up against horror’s most deadliest foe: the Nielsen families.
That’s right. Mitra is heading back to the small screen (she stared on the David E. Kelly lawyer dramas “The Practice” and “Boston Legal”) to star in ABC’s new vampire series “The Gates.”
(UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO SEE MITRA IN FIRST 17-MINUTE PREVIEW CLIP OF “THE GATES”)
The show’s synopsis reads:
Nestled inside a private mountain community are The Gates. The image of perpetual suburban bliss, each street is lined with perfectly manicured homes protected by the massive iron gates, but a dark and delicious secret is buried just beneath the surface of this picturesque neighborhood.
Like most families that settle inside The Gates, the Monahans are unmoored from a complicated life they abandoned in Chicago. Named the new police chief of The Gates, Nick Monahan is expecting a change of pace in this quiet suburb.
Nick’s wife, Sarah, and their children, Charlie and Dana, are embarking on new adventures as well. Their house is to die for, but amidst the excitement Sarah is still burdened with the revelation that her husband may not be the man she thought he was.
Charlie and Dana will also face some challenges of their own: Along with navigating the trials and tribulations of adolescence, they’ll also face the daunting task of fitting into their new upscale school, where their new friends run in tight-knit packs.
There’s something very different about this place, almost… haunting. Unions will be complicated by friends with unnatural influence, insatiable housewives will struggle with ravenous cravings, and teenagers will be cursed with keeping their beastly instincts in check.
The Monahans are facing an uncertain fate. Nick is about to be tangled up in a mystery where he will begin to piece together the dark truth about their new home and the supernatural elements that lurk behind the shadows of The Gates.
Ironically, the show was probably canceled during the time it took to read that synopsis. Horror just doesn’t survive on network TV (HBO & Showtime don’t count). CBS killed “Harper’s Island” last year and ABC recently announced that “Happy Town” would not be renewed after airing two episodes.
“The Gates” costars Frank Grillo (Mother’s Day), Marisol Nichols (“24”), Skyler Samuels (The Stepfather), Chandra West (White Noise), Luke Mably (28 Days Later), Colton Haynes (“Teen Wolf”), and Janina Gavankar (“The L Word”).
The show is set to debut on June 20.
Rhona made her U.S. deboob in 'Hollow Man'
Mitra’s additional horror/sci-fi creds include The Number 23, Skinwalkers, “SGU: Stargate Universe,” and Hollow Man, which featured a topless Mitra being raped by an invisible Kevin Bacon (you can see those shots here).
The Los Angeles premiere of Disney’s fantasy-actioner Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was held last night at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
On hand for the festivities were producer Jerry Bruckenheimer and the film’s stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, and breakout babe Gemma Arterton. Celebrities in attendance included Tom Cruise, Nicolas Cage, Jaime King, Krystin Ritter, Alanis Morissette, and Seth Green with his giant girlfriend Clare Grant.
In keeping with the film’s time manipulation theme, event organizers also managed to dig up ’80s and early ’90s relics Judge Reinhold, Jon Lovitz, and Wayne’s World’s Tia Carrere.
Prince of Persia is an adaptation of Ubisoft’s hit video game. The film is directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and scripted by Jordan Mechner, creator of the Prince of Persia game. It arrives in theaters on May 28.
Actor Shia LaBeouf must be hitting the truth serum again. The 23-year-old actor told The Los Angeles Times that he thinks Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull sucked donkey balls … and that star Harrison Ford agrees with him.
He says:
I think the audience is pretty intelligent. I think they know when you’ve made shit. And I think if you don’t acknowledge it, then why do they trust you the next time you’re promoting a movie.
He [Harrison Ford] wasn’t happy with it either. Look, the movie could have been updated. There was a reason it wasn’t universally accepted.
LaBeouf, who owes his career to director/producer Steven Spielberg, goes on to say that he’s not scared to piss off the Hollywood giant, adding that Spielberg needs to eat shit (I’m paraphrasing).
I’ll probably get a call. But he needs to hear this. I love him. I love Steven. I have a relationship with Steven that supersedes our business work. And believe me, I talk to him often enough to know that I’m not out of line. And I would never disrespect the man.
I think he’s a genius, and he’s given me my whole life. He’s done so much great work that there’s no need for him to feel vulnerable about one film. But when you drop the ball you drop the ball.
Last month, LaBeouf poo-pooed all over Michael Bay’s Transformers 2 (also produced by Spielberg), stating that he felt the film had “missed the mark.” That said, LaBeouf had no problem signing on to star in Bay’s upcoming Transformers 3.
You know who else talked crap about Spielberg? The kid from E.T. I get a feeling LaBeouf is about to have his career Henry Thomas-ed if he keeps talking crazy.
No comment from Spielberg or Ford on LaBeouf’s comments. The duo, however, are reportedly developing a fifth Indiana Jones film.
The first images from director Tarsem Singh’s Immortals (formerly entitled War of the Gods) have hit the web. The fantasy-adventure, which pits men against gods ala Clash of the Titans, went into production last month in Montreal.
Immortals stars Henry Cavill as our hero Theseus, John Hurt as Zeus, Mickey Rourke as King Hyperion, Twilight’sKellan Lutz as Poseidon, Stephen Dorf as master thief Stavros, Isabel Lucas as the Goddess Athena, and Slumdog Millionaire’sFreida Pinto (pictured above) as Phaedra the oracle priestess.
To read about Pinto’s new role in Rise of the Apes, go here.
Last week, many of the cast and crew of the Emmy award-winning sci-fi drama “LOST” gathered at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Los Angeles for ABC’s “Lost Live: The Final Celebration.”
Some of the stars on hand included Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Daniel Dai Kim (Jin), a very sexy Sonya Walgner (Penny), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume), Nestor Carbonell (Richard Alpert), Jeremy Davies (Faraday), Michael Emerson (Ben Linus) and his wife and “True Blood” star Carrie Preston, Rebecca Mader (Charlotte) and many others (see gallery).
Penny for your thoughts.
During the celebration, ABC executive Barry Jossen read a fan letter written by Star Wars creator George Lucas to show-runners—and die-hard SW aficionados—Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.
Lucas wrote:
Congratulations on pulling off an amazing show. Don’t tell anyone … but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance. Throw in some father issues and references to other stories — let’s call them homages — and you’ve got a series.
In six seasons, you’ve managed to span both time and space, and I don’t think I’m alone in saying that I never saw what was around the corner. Now that it’s all coming to an end, it’s impressive to see how much was planned out in advance and how neatly you’ve wrapped up everything.
You’ve created something really special. I’m sad that the series is ending, but I look forward to seeing what you two are going to do next.
“LOST” is currently on its final season. The enhanced two-and-a-half-hour series finale will air on May 23.
Heavy metal icon Ronnie James Dio lost his battle with stomach cancer yesterday morning at 7:45 a.m. He was 67-years-old.
His wife, Wendy Dio, posted on his website:
My heart is broken, Ronnie passed away at 7:45 a.m. 16th May. Many, many friends and family were able to say their private goodbyes before he peacefully passed away. Ronnie knew how much he was loved by all.
Please know he loved you all and his music will live on forever.
Dio fronted the bands Elf and Rainbow during the ’70s and replaced Ozzy Osbourne as vocalist for Black Sabbath in 1979. Together they released the monumental albums “Heaven and Hell” in 1980 and “Mob Rules” in 1981.
He formed the band Dio in 1982 and continued to make heads bleed with the albums “Holy Diver,” “The Last in Line,” “Dream Evil,” “Sacred Heart” and “Lock Up the Wolves.” In 2007, Dio reunited once again with Black Sabbath to tour under the moniker Heaven and Hell.
Dio is credited for making the “devil’s horns” hand gesture the official symbol of unity among those who choose to rock and not suck.
Some of his most recent projects included a hilarious cameo in the 2006 Jack Black film Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny and the 2009 Heaven & Hell CD release “The Devil You Know.”
Tonight, we all shall dream evil.
(Thanks to headbanger Adi V. for waking me up from my drunken stupor with the sad news.)
There was a time when an actor’s only responsibility after wrapping a film was to do a couple of late night talk show appearances and finding a new casting agent to blow. These days, movie stars are saddled with all kinds of promotional obligations—some even bordering on the insanely dangerous.
Take for instance gorgeous Bollywood actress Mallika Sherawat’s recent photo-call to promote the Jennifer Lynch creature-feature Hisss at the 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival. The 33-year-old stunner posed with a variety of snakes, including a massively large constrictor, during the shoot, which took place at the Salon Martha Barrierre at the Majestic Hotel.
Hisss stars Sherawat as a half-woman/half-snake creature known in Eastern folklore as the Nagin. After her lover is murdered, she sets out to take bloody vengeance on the people responsible. The film was shot in India and costars renowned Indian actor Irrfan Khan.
To see pictures of Sherawat as the Snakewoman and a trailer of Hisss, go here.
Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood are set to star in some dude named Adam Bahala Lough’s Splatter Sisters, an ode to old-school slashers.
The film is described as a “sexploitation-serial-killer-slasher-road-movie circa 1989.”
Producer David Gordon Green says:
This is a role Marilyn Manson was born to play, and with Evan Rachel Wood bringing dramatic gravity to the ensemble, I have no doubt this will take the horror genre to a new level.
If by new level Green means lots more naked chicks and frivolous violence, I’m all in. But, really, I’m just hoping Manson getsPhantasmagoria:The Visions of Lewis Carroll off the ground.
Twilight star Nikki Reed is headlining director Deon Taylor’s upcoming indie-slasher Chain Letter. The soon-to-be 22-year-old Los Angeles native plays a high school senior stalked by a killer known as the Chain Man.
Check out the trailer:
Chain Letter stars Reed is Jesse Campbell, a popular student whose friends systematically get murdered when they fail to pass along a chain email.
The film costars Betsy Russell (Saw 6), the very cute Cherilyn Wilson (The Roomate), Keith David (Coraline), and Brad Dourif (Halloween 2).
Chain Letter arrives in theaters on Aug. 6. If you read this post, you must tweet it to 20 of your friends now or a great evil will befall you … like losing your cable connection. That’s right. Don’t fuck with my voodoo.
