Ed Gass-Donnelly, best known for his film Small Town Murder Songs, has come aboard to direct The Last Exorcism 2. Ashley Bell is set to reprise her role from the original 2010 thriller The Last Exorcism, playing possessed teen Nell Sweetzer. The story will pick up three months after the end of the first film, though all further details are being kept under wraps.
Eli Roth is back as a producer, and is making an R rated feature this time out. This is what he had to say about the project.
“(We’re) very, very excited to continue to this story. Obviously with the title of the first one we had not planned on a sequel, but we love the story and subject matter and had what we feel is an inspired idea to continue it. As you can see from other recent films, fans around the world are fascinated by this subject matter, and we want to go deeper and darker this time. The first film worked great as a PG-13 psychological film, but now we want to go R-rated and show the true horror of what this subject matter offers. The biggest creative challenge will be coming up with the right title!”
The Last Exorcism 2 will begin shooting this February in New Orleans with an expected 2013 release. The film is directed by Ed Gass-Donnelly. (Source)
Some quick casting news has come our way for the Eli Roth produced flick Aftershock that fills us with the urge to start trembling. Read on for all of the details, shaken … not stirred.
According to Variety, Andrea Osvart is set to star in the indie thriller Aftershock, set during the aftermath of the 2010 Chilean earthquake.
Nicolas Lopez is helming the film with Eli Roth and Brian Oliver producing. Other than the film’s setting, plot details are being kept under wraps. Guillermo Armoedo is penning the script with production expected to start sometime this spring.
Osvart is new to the U.S. market, having appearing in several pics overseas, but is currently starring in the Cinemax pilot The Transporter based on the Jason Statham action franchise. (Source)
Ion Cinema has put together a list of their “Top 100 Films of 2012 to See.” The RZA/Eli Roth film, The Man With the Iron Fists made the list! Take a look at what they had to say:
#82. The Man with the Iron Fists
Director: RZA
Writer(s): RZA and Eli Roth
Producers: Marc Abraham, Eric Newman, Eli Roth
Distributor: Universal PicturesMovie Premise: This tells the epic story of warriors, assassins and a lone outsider hero in nineteenth-century China who must unite to destroy the clan traitor who would destroy them all. Since his arrival in China’s Jungle Village, the town’s blacksmith (RZA) has been forced by radical tribal factions to create elaborate tools of destruction. When the clans’ brewing war boils over, the stranger channels an ancient energy to transform himself into a human weapon. As he fights alongside iconic heroes and against soulless villains, one man must harness this power to become savior of his adopted people…(more)
Cast: RZA, Russell Crowe, Dave Batista, Rick Yune, Lucy Liu and Pam Grier
List Worthy Reasons: Shot in China, working with the kind of tech folk (Corey Yuen) you would want for a swords and kung fu inspired project, the Wu-Tang Clan member/Hip Hop maestro has workshopped the project for more than half a decade, formed a working alliance with Russell Crowe and Eli Roth and while we expect a kick-ass soundtrack, this should be this year’s wild card project. Also, it is presented by Quentin Tarantino … enough said.
Release Date: There is mention of an October release, but Universal have yet to confirm the date.
Kung fu films don’t get much play on FEARnet, but when they are co-written and produced by Eli Roth, how could we not give it a little love? The film in question is The Man With the Iron Fists, co-written and directed by Wu-Tang Clan founding member RZA (who also appears in the film). The film takes place in feudal China, where “a blacksmith who makes weapons for a small village is put in the position where he must defend himself and his fellow villagers” (according to IMDB). Filming began at the end of 2010 in Shanghai with Russell Crowe, Pam Grier, and Lucy Liu.
Also starring in the flick is Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch, Sorority Row). We caught up with her on the set of her new supernatural thriller 7500 and she filled us in on the status of Iron Fists.
“The original cut was four hours long, and RZA was like, “Let’s turn it into two movies!” and Eli is like, “No….” They are really excited, and I have complete faith in RZA. He’s a genius when it comes to these things and he knows the genre so well. So it has been cut down to an hour and a half. It’s picture-locked, and now he’s working on the music. I’m pretty excited. Everyone’s pretty stoked. It will have that “cult” feel. I don’t think everyone loved 36 Chambers of Shaolin or Five Deadly Venoms. It’s definitely a delicacy, but it’s still fun and awesome. Russell Crowe is doing some crazy things that you would never think he would do on film. I don’t know the final stylized look he went for. You can only imagine what Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, and RZA could pull together. It’s going to be fun. I think it might come out in August.”
Eli recalls his most “Chinese-filled Jewish Christmas yet” to the Hollywood Reporter. I don’t know about you, but it sounds like a good time! Take a look at Eli’s story below:
Director Eli Roth On His Most Chinese-Filled Jewish Christmas Yet:
“Like most Jews, I follow the tradition of having Chinese food on Christmas and then going to see the new Spielberg film. However, last year I took this tradition to a whole new level when I was in prep on a martial arts film I co-wrote and produced, called The Man With the Iron Fists, which we shot in China.”“We were scheduled to start photography December 26 and were on location in a small town in the south called Heng Dien. Heng Dien is something out of Blade Runner, except with an entire replica of The Forbidden City built for filming. On Christmas Eve, I had dinner at a Chinese restaurant — or as they call it, a restaurant — with the cast, which includes such Kung Fu legends as Gordon Liu and Chen Kuan-tai.”
“Everyone kept asking if it was strange for me to be spending Christmas in China, away from my family. I explained that this was just a more extreme version of every other Christmas: Chinese food and movies.”
Netflix has also acquired a new program produced and directed by Eli Roth titled, Hemlock Grove. Roth’s last directorial effort was Hostel: Part II in 2007, and he has also directed Hostel and Cabin Fever.
Hemlock Grove will be based on the book of the same name from Brian McGreevy, which will be released on March 27. The series will have 13 episodes and is being written by McGreevy with his writing partner Lee Shipman.
Hemlock Grove tells the story of a town whose residents find the murdered body of a little girl and try to find the culprit, but aren’t sure whether they are looking for a person or a beast. (Source)
Thursday night, Eli attended the In The Land Of Blood and Honey premiere in Los Angeles. Eli posed for pictures with his Inglourious Basterds co-star, Brad Pitt as well with Luc Besson and Nicolas Refn. Head over to the gallery for the latest additions.
Gallery Links:
- Home > Public Appearances > Events From 2011 > “In The Land Of Blood and Honey” LA Premiere
Eli attended For Your Consideration Party which honored the film, Drive on Wednesday night. The event took place in West Hollywood and other attendees included Nadia Lin, Albert Brooks and Richard Kelly. Head over to the gallery for the latest additions.
Gallery Links:
- Home > Public Appearances > Events From 2011 > For Your Consideration Party Honors the Film “Drive”
I’ve added a new photo shoot into the gallery! The new shoot is from a press junket in 2010 Eli did for the film, The Last Exorcism. Hopefully I’ll be able to locate additional images and outtakes from the session. Head over to the gallery for the latest additions.
Gallery Links:
- Home > Photo Shoots > Shoots From 2010 > Set #004
Hello everyone!
Just a quick webmaster note, there will be no site updates for two weeks as I will be away. I want to thank everyone for your continued support of this site and look forward to bringing you all the latest Eli news and images when I get back!
Endangered Species (2013)
The Last Exorcism (2010)
Piranha (2010)
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
