Even Famous Film Directors Get The Blues (Studio Shuts Down Wes Craven) (my title, three stories)

Sci Fi Wire ^ | 09/10/03 | Sci Fi Wire

[theFIRMbss]

Cursed Reshoots; Baker Quits

Wes Craven, director of the troubled werewolf movie Cursed, told SCI FI Wire that many of the film's scenes will have to be reshot—and possibly recast—when the film resumes production in November. Craven also made the surprising announcement that Oscar-winning makeup effects maven Rick Baker has retired, turning over responsibility for the film's werewolf makeup to KNB.

"I haven't seen that hit the news yet, but he shut down his studio," Craven said in an interview. "All of the elements have been taken over by KNB for us."

Craven shot Cursed for 11 weeks before Dimension Films halted production in June and ordered a script rewrite. "Quite an extraordinary amount of new material is going to be shot, and a lot of material is going to be thrown away," Craven said. Craven added that casting changes were likely, but he said that he does not know which cast members will still be available. The cast included Christina Ricci, Skeet Ulrich and Shannon Elizabeth. Dimension plans to release Cursed in 2004.

Why Alice And Fountain Died

Wes Craven, who has been developing films based on the video game American McGee's Alice and his own novel Fountain Society for Dimension Films, told SCI FI Wire that both projects are all but dead. Regarding Alice, a dark retelling of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Craven said in an interview, "[We] never got a script that Dimension liked, so it's been pushed way back on the back burner."

Fountain Society, a story about cloning in the future, also had script problems, Craven said. In particular, the studio wasn't interested in the philosophical issues raised by a story about an old scientist's brain transplanted into his young clone's body, he said. "A large part of it was about the continuing relationship with his wife, who remained old," he said. "The studio's feeling was that that story should be discounted, because the audience wouldn't be interested. It kind of turned us into a movie that was just basically a chase movie, and we were never really able to get to the point where we were all enthusiastic about it."

Craven said that three writers tried adapting Fountain Society for two years before everyone gave up on the project. "I think the studio ran out of money, ... and I guess I kind of got exhausted on the process of Fountain Society," he said.

Craven Explains Cursed Delay

Director Wes Craven told SCI FI Wire that he expects to resume production in November on his werewolf film Cursed, which Dimension Films shut down after 11 weeks of shooting in order to fix the script. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson rewrote his own script to address problems. "The studio wasn't happy with the third act, which we were about to start shooting," Craven said in an interview.

Craven added that the production shutdown and rewrite process has left him less than enthusiastic about the movie. "It's just been a matter of trying to get it done, so it's been a very long arduous process, and frankly I'm just sick of the process and want to go out and do something I can feel really good about," he said.

Craven said that he originally planned to make a different film. "We started with me being offered to do a remake of a Japanese film called Pulse," he said. "The usual translation was sometimes called Circuit. It's by [Kiyoshi] Kurasawa. Five weeks before shooting, Dimension pulled the plug on it. And then for one reason or another, they made us an offer that we kind of had to accept to do this film Cursed."

Cursed tells the story of a group of people who unite to fight a curse after they are attacked by a werewolf.

[theFIRMbss]

You gotta wonder
why a studio would mess
with this director...

As if the Elm Street
series and Scream trilogy
haven't defined films...

(And why does Craven
stay with a studio that
plays studio games?!)

[discostu]

Making a movie out of American Magee's Alice would have been great. Anyone who's actually read the stories would love the game which is much closer to the tone than the Disney animated. But it was just too dark and creepy to be financially successful as a movie, it was almost too dark and creepy to be financially successful as a game.

[theFIRMbss]

>Making a movie out of American Magee's Alice would have been great ... But it was just too dark and creepy ...

I think you are right,
it could have been great. Lewis
Carroll, by reports,

was creepy himself,
and the film would have given
Wes Craven a chance

to play fantasy
against reality with
classic elements.

[theFIRMbss]

>And why does Craven/stay with a studio that/plays studio games?!)

Judging by rumors
and some very good hoax sites
I've seen with my eyes

(but which now appear
to be gone), there seems a chance
that the "werewolf" film

was just a cover,
for Wes Craven to gather
the talent from Scream

all back together
without media frenzies...
Traditional Scream

release is Christmas...
If Scream 4 has been made, then
they'll go public soon...