Movie Vampire to Be New Kolchak - Stuart Townsend new Night Stalker???)

FilmForce IGN.com ^ | March 4, 2005 | Staff

[EveningStar]

Stuart Townsend, previously seen as Anne Rice's vampire protagonist in Queen of the Damned and as Dorian Gray in the film adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, has been tapped to play Jeff Rice's intrepid reporter that faces the supernatural, Carl Kolchak.

The new pilot for The Night Stalker is being produced by former X-Files Executive producer, Frank Spotnitz, and was commissioned by ABC, who is eager to find the next big supernatural franchise. The evidence of tinkering with the concept is evident just by the casting notices: Kolchak has been given a "partner" to be played in the pilot by Gabrielle Union, soon to be seen in the re-make of the television classic, The Honeymooners. Still left to be cast is Kolchak's long suffering editor yet staunchest supporter, Tony Vincenzo.

[martin_fierro]

Ping

[martin_fierro]

I liked the show's theme music. wEiRd!

[Blue Champagne]

Darren McGavin in his prime - yum. I really enjoyed the show during its short run. His portrayal of Kolchak was a kick.

[Darkwolf]

Kolchak barely managed one season--I think it had its budget slashed 2/3 of the way through the season. The writing was on the wall...

If you liked the original Kolchak movies, try to catch another Dan Curtis production--Trilogy of Terror. The first 2 stories are eh, but the third--about Karen Black locked in her apartment with a possessed African warrior doll--was one of the FREAKIEST things I'd ever seen on TV as a kid.

[HitmanLV]

Project UFO was an awesome Jack Webb production, even though he wasn't in it as you said. Good show, especially since as a young boy in the 1970s I was fascinated by UFOs, the earliest days of the abduction phenomenon, the lock ness monster (who, if he is real, suffers from a very bad moniker - he isn't a monster at all), Sasquach (who I have always maintained is very real), assorted Forteana, the Bermuda Triangle (boy did they see me coming on that one), and other cool related stuff.

I still am fascinated by that kind of stuff. :-)

I watched Trilogy of Terror when it was broadcast at the tender age of 7 or 8 or so. That last segment scared the heck out of me and to be honest, it still does.

Note that the The Night Stalker & The Night Strangler, the best of Trilogy of Terror ('Prey,' the African doll story you mentioned), and for that matter the best Twilight Zones all have one thing in common: Mr. Richard Matheson.

As far as FREAKIEST things goes, as you said that very last shot of the African Doll story in ToT, as Karen Black waits for her boyfriend, and tosses us viewers that 'toothy' smile, still gives me nightmares! Well done!

PS - I have seen that African Doll model show up at comic, SF and modeling conventions. No way in the world I would ever own one... :-)

[Darkwolf]

"all have one thing in common: Mr. Richard Matheson."

See my post #15. I happen to be reading volume one of his collected stories; volume #2 is out, too. Not only all of his stories, but his notes on how he came to write them.

Yup, that last shot of Karen Black always gets a "GAAAAHHHH!!!" out of me!

[TheBigB]

I find it disturbing that I, an avowed Kolchak aficianado was not pinged. :)P

Nevertheless, I dunno 'bout this. I like Stuart T. fine, but...I just don't see him as Kolchak. Of course, after McGavin, I can't see anyone else as Kolchak.

Here's some news you may have missed...from TVShowsOnDVD.com...

folks at The Sci Fi Channel run a great website. Not only does it cover and promote shows and events tied to the cable network, but it truly reaches out to science fiction fans with genre-related info that may not be directly related to their broadcasts. One of the cool things at their site along those lines is the Events Calendar. It lists dates for SciFi channel events like premieres of special shows and so forth, but also lists film openings, convention dates, book releases...and now DVD release dates as well, it seems. y of the DVD's you'll find on their master list are for releases we've already talked about, including the dates of all four seasons of Enterprise. The big surprise, though, are some end-of-the-year release dates for 5 highly anticipated sets from Univesal Studios Home Video!

Kolchak, The Night Stalker is one of those titles, and the SciFi.com events calendar is reporting a 10/04/2005 release date for it!

We tried to get Universal to comment on this, but they would neither confirm nor deny that schedule. What came up is that, if this DID represent the current plans for that set's release, we have to realize that plans can always change. Nothing that far off is set in stone, and we think our readers here at TVShowsOnDVD are among the best on the 'Net at realizing that. Still, it's good to know that it's that much on the radar, and even if that doesn't turn out to be the exact date, it seems to be coming!

This timing makes sense, if they want to tie the DVD set into the launch of the new show.

[fivekid]

Was it called He who kills?

The doll had a necklace or something and it fell off?

She Caren Black locked it (the doll) in a suit case and

it cut its way out and ran around the apartment slashing

her?

[EveningStar]

Sorry for leaving you out on the initial ping. :)

Thanks for the note about the upcoming DVD release.

[Darkwolf]

The title of that segment was "Prey"

[Heyworth]

The Night Stalker and the Night Strangler tv movies are great and very good, respectively. The TV show suffered almost from the get-go. It was nowhere near as good as I remembered it.

Thank you. I'm always amazed by the people who think the NS series was great. I was 13 years old back then and knew it sucked. The movies, on the other hand, are fantastic. I rented them a couple of years ago and was amazed at how well they've held up.

[EveningStar]

It was nowhere near as good as I remembered it.

I haven't seen the show in more than 2 decades. I fear that I will feel the same way you do when I see it again. (chuckle)

[SoCal Pubbie]

Part of the appeal of Kolchack, aside from McGavin's personal style as an actor, was his go it alone, me against the world outcast kind of thing, which it seems will be tossed aside for, as you say, the Buffy treatment. I can think of a good actor for the role, but of course way out of the league, and that's Johnny Depp.

[Darkwolf]

Can't stand Johnny Depp, he's just a weirdo. McGavin was not cool, but he wasn't a weirdo outsider ala the guy from X-Files, either. He knew people, knew how the real world worked, and could have gone through his life using his low-life sources to report on plain old crimes and such. THAT is his appeal--he's a reporter who has sources that could make him a good beat reporter, but he goes off into this weird zone. If he were Depp, he'd be a weirdo investigating weirdness.

The reason the series didn't work was because all this supernatural stuff just started popping up regularly.

[safeasthebanks]

"as Karen Black waits for her boyfriend, and tosses us viewers that 'toothy' smile, still gives me nightmares! Well done!"

I know how you feel. And for what it's worth, I believe its her over-bearing mother (never seen) that she's lying in wait for at the end.

[SoCal Pubbie]

I don't think they make them like McGavin anymore. At least Depp plays the offbeat character well. He's role in Secret Window was not so much weird (if you throw out the fact he was mental) as antisocial. Kolchack was definitely a little out of the mainstream, and had a bit of a con man in him. In a way he was sort of a Jim Rockford of the supernatural

Okay how about Oliver Platt (if he could lose some weight), or Kevin Kline, or maybe even William Peterson from CSI Las Vegas?

[Clemenza]

This was my dad's favorite show when it was on back in the 70s. They would frequently show reruns on Channel 5 in NY when I was a kid, so I too got to enjoy Darrin McGavin. Its a shame it was canceled after one season, I believe.

[Darkwolf]

Those are good choices. Depp aside, I wish you were the one casting this thing.

I think McGavin shows just how well an actor can take over a role and make it so much his own that it's impossible for someone to take it over, unless, as is the case here, most people don't even know about the original.

Kevin Kline would be very good in that part, as would Petersen, who I've liked since To Live and Die in L.A.

If he were doing TV Al Pacino would make a good Kolchak, as long as he didn't get any scripts with shouting in them.