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King Short Story, “One for the Road” Optioned by Maine Filmmakers

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Another Stephen King story is coming to the big screen. King’s short story, “One For The Road” has been optioned by Bonfire Films and Dark Farm Films, studios responsible for “The Tickle,” “The Hanover House,” and “Sui Generis” (short film).

The story takes place in and around Jerusalem’s Lot, the notorious town of vampires in King’s second published novel, “Salem’s Lot.” Two elderly residents of Maine set out to rescue the Gerards, who became stranded by a blizzard, but soon discover the unfortunate family is stuck in “the Lot.” Will they survive their encounter in the vampire infested town?

Though the two studios don’t have much of a cinematic pedigree, they are dedicated to paying homage to King, who has inspired them with his work.

From the Press Release:

Maine-based production companies Bonfire Films and Dark Farm Films have teamed up to bring the work of author Stephen King back to his home state. This year the two companies will adapt King’s short story “One for the Road,” filming it in the areas that King intended the dark tale to unfold: the Maine towns of Falmouth, Windham, and Cumberland, better known to the literary world as Jerusalem’s Lot (Salem’s Lot). 

Corey Norman, director of the wildly successful independent feature The Hanover House, is set to direct the long-form short film, while Jenny Anastasoff of the Damnationland hit Sui Generis and Haley Norman of The Hanover House are set to produce. Being huge King fans, the group hope to create a true love letter to the work of the author, while showcasing the state that has brought them so much inspiration. Look for the film when it hits festivals later this year.

Jenny Anastasoff, who originally worked for Bonfire films as an actor since their inception, created Dark Farm Films last year to work on her own short films. Anastasoff has been a fan of King’s for a long time, and as a Maine native she says, “I’m so looking forward to casting, and location scouting, making it all come to life. Too many King films are shot outside of the state, so we are pretty excited to film a Maine tale in Maine. Stephen King is a great benefactor to his home state, and we are grateful.”

Astanoff still has her 1980’s copy of King’s “Night Shift,” the collection where the short story was published, and will be using it as she adapts the story. “It’s a great cinematic piece – classic King, suspenseful and spooky and very Maine,” Astanoff says.

Take a look at the trailers for “The Hanover House,” and the short film “Sui Generis” for an idea of what the film may look like.

Though having a film optioned doesn’t necessarily guarantee it will make it to the screen, it is encouraging to see a dedicated team working to stay true to the intent of King’s stories, and love of his home state.

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‘Evil Dead’ Film Franchise Getting TWO New Installments

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It was a risk for Fede Alvarez to reboot Sam Raimi’s horror classic The Evil Dead in 2013, but that risk paid off and so did its spiritual sequel Evil Dead Rise in 2023. Now Deadline is reporting that the series is getting, not one, but two fresh entries.

We already knew about the Sébastien Vaniček upcoming film that delves into the Deadite universe and should be a proper sequel to the latest film, but we are broadsided that Francis Galluppi and Ghost House Pictures are doing a one-off project set in Raimi’s universe based off of an idea that Galluppi pitched to Raimi himself. That concept is being kept under wraps.

Evil Dead Rise

“Francis Galluppi is a storyteller who knows when to keep us waiting in simmering tension and when to hit us with explosive violence,” Raimi told Deadline. “He is a director that shows uncommon control in his feature debut.”

That feature is titled The Last Stop In Yuma County which will release theatrically in the United States on May 4. It follows a traveling salesman, “stranded at a rural Arizona rest stop,” and “is thrust into a dire hostage situation by the arrival of two bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty-or cold, hard steel-to protect their bloodstained fortune.”

Galluppi is an award-winning sci-fi/horror shorts director whose acclaimed works include High Desert Hell and The Gemini Project. You can view the full edit of High Desert Hell and the teaser for Gemini below:

High Desert Hell
The Gemini Project

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‘Invisible Man 2’ Is “Closer Than Its Ever Been” to Happening

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Elisabeth Moss in a very well-thought-out statement said in an interview for Happy Sad Confused that even though there have been some logistical issues for doing Invisible Man 2 there is hope on the horizon.

Podcast host Josh Horowitz asked about the follow-up and if Moss and director Leigh Whannell were any closer to cracking a solution to getting it made. “We are closer than we have ever been to cracking it,” said Moss with a huge grin. You can see her reaction at the 35:52 mark in the below video.

Happy Sad Confused

Whannell is currently in New Zealand filming another monster movie for Universal, Wolf Man, which might be the spark that ignites Universal’s troubled Dark Universe concept which hasn’t gained any momentum since Tom Cruise’s failed attempt at resurrecting The Mummy.

Also, in the podcast video, Moss says she is not in the Wolf Man film so any speculation that it’s a crossover project is left in the air.

Meanwhile, Universal Studios is in the middle of constructing a year-round haunt house in Las Vegas which will showcase some of their classic cinematic monsters. Depending on attendance, this could be the boost the studio needs to get audiences interested in their creature IPs once more and to get more films made based on them.

The Las Vegas project is set to open in 2025, coinciding with their new proper theme park in Orlando called Epic Universe.

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Jake Gyllenhaal’s Thriller ‘Presumed Innocent’ Series Gets Early Release Date

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Jake gyllenhaal presumed innocent

Jake Gyllenhaal’s limited series Presumed Innocent is dropping on AppleTV+ on June 12 instead of June 14 as originally planned. The star, whose Road House reboot has brought mixed reviews on Amazon Prime, is embracing the small screen for the first time since his appearance on Homicide: Life on the Street in 1994.

Jake Gyllenhaal’s in ‘Presumed Innocent’

Presumed Innocent is being produced by David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, and Warner Bros. It is an adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1990 film in which Harrison Ford plays a lawyer doing double duty as an investigator looking for the murderer of his colleague.

These types of sexy thrillers were popular in the ’90s and usually contained twist endings. Here’s the trailer for the original:

According to Deadline, Presumed Innocent doesn’t stray far from the source material: “…the Presumed Innocent series will explore obsession, sex, politics and the power and limits of love as the accused fights to hold his family and marriage together.”

Up next for Gyllenhaal is the Guy Ritchie action movie titled In the Grey scheduled for release in January 2025.

Presumed Innocent is an eight-episode limited series set to stream on AppleTV+ starting June 12.

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