News
The Deal that lured ‘Halloween’ star Jamie Lee Curtis back to Haddonfield
Jamie Lee Curtis is being paid very little, by Hollywood standards, for her work on the upcoming Halloween film. However, Curtis stands to earn millions if the film is a box office success.
Curtis is being paid a modest salary for her work on the upcoming Halloween film, in exchange for a slice of the profits. This is the same profit-participation agreement that Blumhouse Productions, the company behind the new Halloween film, previously entered into with Ethan Hawke, star of the Blumhouse-produced films The Purge and Sinister. So far, Hawke has earned approximately $10 million from The Purge and Sinister, which grossed $48 million and $64 million, respectively, at the domestic box office. Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson, stars of the non-Blumhouse-produced Conjuring films, also reaped millions of dollars from this type of agreement.
If the upcoming Halloween film’s box office performance is similar to that of The Purge and Sinister at the domestic box office, Curtis would earn approximately $5 million. However, if the film outperforms this model, the number could move closer to $10 million. “Whether or not you believe that Ethan Hawke is a star, a box office draw, he brought credibility to The Purge and Sinister, and they were successful,” says a source close to the Halloween production. “Although horror films aren’t star-driven films, it helps to have a credible, recognizable face in the film, and when people think of Halloween, and the history of the series, they think of Jamie. She’s the main draw for the new film, and she’s worth a lot of money to the series, so this kind of deal makes sense for everyone involved. It keeps the budgets under $10 million, and it rewards success, and it motivates stars like Jamie to promote the films heavily because they’re so invested in the project at all levels. In the horror genre, Jamie is a superstar and always will be.”
Curtis’s film career, like so many other actresses in her age bracket, has slowed down considerably over the past decade. Her last major hit was 2003’s Freaky Friday, which grossed over $100 million at the domestic box office. During the height of her film career, between the late 1980s and mid-1990s, Curtis’s established asking price was between $2 million and $3 million, so a project like the new Halloween film offers her the largest pay day in her career.
Curtis, who turns 60 on November 22, 2018, approximately one month after the upcoming Halloween film’s scheduled theatrical release, earned a paltry $8,000 in 1978 for the original Halloween film. She was paid $100,000 for 1981’s Halloween II, which was the highest salary Curtis earned during her scream queen period, between 1978 and 1981. As star and un-credited executive producer of 1998’s Halloween: H20, Curtis earned approximately $5 million. Curtis was paid $3 million for her extended cameo in 2002’s Halloween: Resurrection.
For more information about Curtis and her scream queen career, check out the book Jamie Lee Curtis: Scream Queen, which is available in paperback and through kindle.
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Movies
Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month
Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.
Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.
According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.
Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.
Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.
Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.
While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.
According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”
The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.
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Movies
Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released
In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.
The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.
The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.
Here is the fresh trailer:
According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.
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News
Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers
Warning: This is a disturbing story.
You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.
This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400.
If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing.
Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction.
“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”
She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.”
At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.
“She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”
If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.
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