Paramount has once again pushed the release date of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D.
The action-fantasy -- starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the adult versions of the eponymous fairy tale characters, and Famke Janssen as the evil witch -- was previously moved from a March 2012 bow to January 11, 2013.
Now, according to TheWrap, Paramount has pushed the release date back to January 25, 2013 to accommodate an IMAX release of the film.
Paramount has once again pushed the release date of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D.
The action-fantasy -- starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the adult versions of the eponymous fairy tale characters, and Famke Janssen as the evil witch -- was previously moved from a March 2012 bow to January 11, 2013.
Now, according to TheWrap, Paramount has pushed the release date back to January 25, 2013 to accommodate an IMAX release of the film.
Dark Shadows tells the sordid tale of Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), who is transformed into a vampire and entombed by a jaded witch named Angelique (a scene-stealing Eva Green – who's the only reason to watch the film). Two centuries later he awakens to find his family dynasty in ruins. Together with the help of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer), her angst-addled kids Carolyn and David (Chloe Moretz and Gulliver McGrath), her shady brother Roger Collins (Jonny Lee Miller) and psychiatrist Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter, who seems more like she just stumbled onto the set), they attempt to reclaim the family's former glory.
There's one constant with Tim Burton films as of late. The more money he's given, the worse the project turns out. Dark Shadows was an annoyingly expensive gothic horror picture that, had it been made in the mid '80s, would have cost $30-40 million. But with glossy big-budget effects and Johnny Depp in tow, Dark Shadows became a needlessly expensive $150 million tent-pole title that needed to hit, or else.
But Dark Shadows wasn't meant for an audience of that size. After all, it was based on a beloved but admittedly only modestly popular cult soap series. While such material seems ripe for the picking for Tim Burton, the once outstanding director seems to have a bit of a problem with excess.
With enough money to make three or four '80s Burton films, Dark Shadows is a messy concoction of lazy storytelling, bad plotting and weak characters, all told under an expansive budget that allows for impressive sets and costumes and enough elaborate effects and production design to keep the eyes in wonder. Alas, with a meandering pace, no real story driving things, a villain who audiences sympathize with more than the “hero,” and a bloated, overlong running time, Dark Shadows represents some of worst work Tim Burton has delivered since, well, his last film.
As a die-hard Burton lover, this is wholeheartedly saddening. The once great filmmaker just can't seem to harness a story anymore and craft it into something compelling or memorable. Instead, Burton seems to be exploring the limits of his imagination, forgetting that some of his best work came from smaller budgets and more stress. I find it hard to imagine a film like Beetlejuice, for example, would work with the Burton we have nowadays.
Dark Shadows isn't Burton's worst film, but it's certainly a big disappointment, especially considering the gothic material. The idea of the film is funny on paper, but the execution is anything but compelling. Still, the visuals are quite dazzling and it's fairly obvious where all the money went. If only some of that cash had gone to crafting a more focused, compelling narrative, and if only someone had told Burton to dial things back a little, this might have been Burton's return-to-form. Fingers crossed for Frankenweenie.
Dark Shadows comes to Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Home Video. The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, encoded in 1080p/AVC and mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. We'll be taking a look at the two-disc Blu-ray/DVD/UltraViolet combo pack for this review. There's also a single-disc Blu-ray/UV version as well.
With crisp, bold gothic imagery driving the narrative, it should come as no shock that Dark Shadows looks quite extraordinary on Blu-ray. The image is a bit intentionally soft at times, but it's also defined by perfect shadows, inky, rich blacks and plenty of moody texture and detail. The encode yields little-to-no flaws, either. No noise, banding or heavy compression was noted at all. While Dark Shadows does boast a soft, eerie palette that doesn't strike the eyes in the way other big-budget titles can, this is a stellar transfer that's well worth commending.
Audio is equally dazzling, from the film's minor action set pieces (the finale sounds incredible) to the film's quieter, character-driven moments. Rarely does this mix falter. No crackles, distortions or hiss were noted. Surrounds help paint a lively gothic atmosphere, and bass adds texture to the film's action cues and to Danny Elfman's score.
Extras are less impressive. Fans are treated to a relatively thin Maximum Movie Mode that doesn't actually play like a Maximum Movie Mode at all. Instead, it's just a picture-in-picture feature with some decent behind-the-scenes insight and about 40 minutes of Focus Points featurettes. While it's hardly terrible, it also fails to live up to the Maximum Movie Mode level of quality. Bonus features are topped off with a 6-minute deleted scenes reel.
Dark Shadows should have been a return-to-form for director Tim Burton, but with a bloated budget and way too much room to play, Burton delivers yet another wasted effort. The Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, but extras are a little disappointing. Rent this one before you buy.
Fast and Furious star Vin Diesel is now in negotiations to star in Lionsgate-Summit's The Last Witch Hunter.
The story, which was penned by Cory Goodman (Priest), is about the last remaining witch hunter, who is tasked with discouraging a group of witches and warlocks from reproducing. Wanted director Timur Bekmambetov was once set to helm the film when the pitch was first picked up, however, the filmmaker has since dropped out.
The Wrap reports that The Crazies' Breck Eisner is now attached to direct the film, with Adam Goldworm executive producing. Emmett/Furla Films will also produce.
It's been a long time coming, but the trailer for Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters has finally arrived. The revisionist fairy tale pic starring Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton was originally slated for a March 2012 release before getting pushed all the way to January 2013. But now we can finally get our first real look at what's to come:
Via Apple
Last year, Image Comics launched a great new series called Witch Doctor, which we adored here at IGN Comics. Now, Witch Doctor scribe Brandon Seifert is prepping the second volume of the series alongside tackling the comic book adventures of some iconic genre franchises: Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Doctor Who. We caught up with him to see what he's unleashing on us this fall.
IGN Comics: First, congrats on all the new work. We’ll talk about this again closer to release, but what’s the status of the next volume of Witch Doctor?
Brandon Seifert: Witch Doctor: Mal Practice #1 (of 6) goes on sale November 28! I’m excited to finally be back — it’s been a little while since we did Vol. 1, but we wanted to make sure to “come correct” on this. So the whole mini-series is already written, and issues #1-3 were all drawn before we even announced the release date!
IGN: That's great to hear. Now, how did the Hellraiser and Doctor Who gigs come about?
Seifert: If we’re going to be perfectly honest, they came about because of Allison Baker — the co-publisher of MonkeyBrain Comics, and wife of writer Chris Roberson. Allison and Chris have always been super supportive of me and my work. Chris has written for both BOOM! and IDW, and Allison put in a good word for me at both of those companies. In the case of BOOM!, it led to them offering me a writing gig on the Hellraiser Annual that came out in April. In IDW’s case, I got in touch with them about something unrelated — and found out that Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall had read Witch Doctor and thought my handling of that eccentric doctor character and his weird sci-fi adventures would translate well into me doing something on Doctor Who. And it so happened that I’d already pitched some ideas to Who editor Denton Tipton a few months before, because Doctor Who is one of my favorite things ever!
So — Allison, thanks again!
IGN: I’ll admit that I’m not a Hellraiser fan. Like, at all. So to that end, what would you tell someone like me – who loves your work on Witch Doctor – is a reason to pick up Hellraiser?
Seifert: I feel like the Hellraiser comics are very different from the movies. The movies are very self-contained, like horror movies tend to be — they have to be, if they’re going to give you any real sense of peril for the characters. When you’ve got a horror franchise that’s based on a hero rather than a villain, like Scream or something, that’s different because you’ve got a protagonist who you can reasonably expect is going to survive the movie — because they’re survived the past ones. The Hellraiser films aren’t like that.
But the comic series is about both the villain — Pinhead — and about the heroine — Kirsty Cotton. Kirsty’s been the heroine throughout the comic series — which kind of makes it less of a straight-up horror story, and more of a multi-genre piece. The Hellraiser comics have horror, but they’ve also got action and drama — same as Witch Doctor. So when I sit down and write a Hellraiser comic set in this universe, I’d argue it’s honestly more like Witch Doctor than like a Hellraiser film — although without the sci-fi element, and with way less humor.
As a writer, I like exploring the ramifications of things. In Witch Doctor, that shows up as we examine classic monsters you feel like you know, but then reveal there’s lots more going on with them than you expect, and it’s all tied into the darkest corners of real-world biology. In Hellraiser: The Road Below, I’m doing the same kind of exploration, but it’s with Kirsty Cotton, the choices she’s made and the power she now has.
IGN: What’s the general plot of Hellraiser: The Road Below?
Seifert: In the last couple years of the Hellraiser ongoing comic, Kirsty Cotton has gone from being the “final girl” of the first two movies, to being a Cenobite-hunter — and now, to being a Cenobite herself! Pinhead stepped down — and convinced her to become his replacement, so she could “change the system from the inside.” But when Kirsty became the new Pinhead, she realized that if Hell is evil, it’s a necessary evil.
Hellraiser: The Road Below is a sort of “year one” story, picking up really early in Kirsty’s time as the new Pinhead. This is Kirsty still really committed to carrying out Hell’s work, catching the people who deserve to be punished and bringing them back to Hell. She’s really convinced she’s doing something good for the universe... but there’s ramifications for her actions she’s not expecting. And when she’s summoned by a frightened mother who wanted to make a deal with a devil to save her child from a blood feud that’s almost wiped out their family, Kirsty’s going to learn just how true that whole thing about Hell and good intentions is!
IGN: While I’m not one of them, Hellraiser has a very passionate fanbase. How do you balance bringing your own vision to the story while staying true to what the fans want/expect from a Hellraiser story?
Seifert: That’s honestly hard, because I can’t really guess what Hellraiser fans “want,” and it’s easy to second-guess myself if I start doing that. At the end of the day, with Hellraiser or anything else, the only thing I can do is make sure I’m telling a story that I want to tell, and a story that I, as a reader and fan, want to read. And I’m doing stuff in The Road Below that I’ve wanted to read since I first got into Clive Barker back in high school — so I think that part is going well!
IGN: How involved is Clive Barker in the ongoing work of the Hellraiser comics?
Seifert: Hellraiser is definitely still Clive’s baby, and even in Hellraiser books like The Road Below that he’s not actually co-writing, he’s still there behind the scenes reading and vetting everything, and bringing things back onto the track he wants them on if they wander off it. And the ongoing Hellraiser title — that’s Clive. He’s co-writing it, and the other people he brings on are there to help implement his vision for the world and the characters.
IGN: Which Hellraiser movie is your favorite and why?
Seifert: I think the first one is still pretty unmatched — but I’ve got a lot of affinity for Hellbound: Hellraiser 2. This is the one where you got to see Hell, where you got to see people turned into Cenobites and where you got to see the Cenobites’ god, Leviathan. That’s my jam, right there. One of my favorite things about Clive’s work, the thing I found more inspiring when I got super-into his writing when I was in high school and my brain was all squishy and influence-able, was his worldbuilding and the scope of his vision.
The original Hellraiser is great, and it’s definitely the scariest movie in the series — but it doesn’t have the scope or the depth of Hellbound. Hellbound actually gets into the world of the Cenobites, who they are, where they come from and what they do — and that’s the sort of thing that interests me, as a fan and a writer.
Head over to Page 2 for some Doctor Who and Witch Doctor goodness!
