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Throughout its several years of development, Lionsgate's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies hasn't had an easy time trying to make it onto the big screen. With three directors dropping out (David O. Russell, Mike White, Craig Gillespie), Grahame-Smith has had to remain patient throughout several "almost" scenarios for a potential adaptation of his best-selling mashup novel (which can also be safely credited to Jane Austen). A script originally adapted by Russell and rewritten by Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Fright Night writer Marti Noxon is in place. Back in March, Grahame-Smith said "there's still a will at Lionsgate to do it," and that he hoped a successful Snow White and the Huntsman might encourage another try.
Grahame-Smith has seen his own career blossom in Hollywood in the intervening years, writing the scripts for the recently released Dark Shadows and the upcoming adaptation of another of his mashup novels, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Yet, as Grahame-Smith admits in a recent interview with Bloody-Disgusting, the author-screenwriter admitted that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is still "languishing."
read grahame-smith's comments and watch the NSFW trailer >> Posted 06.20.12 by Ryan -
What could be better timed for Memorial Day weekend than an inspiring, historical speech from an iconic American President? That's precisely what Twentieth Century Fox thought when releasing the latest trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which includes Lincoln's Gettysburg Address over footage from the movie.
This "inspirational" trailer is quite unlike the red band trailer released last week, which was specifically interested in showing Honest Abe's axe-wielding skills against the undead. Here, Lincoln's 1863 speech commemorating the fallen soldiers of the Battle of Gettysburg plays with footage of Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) engaging in his "secret" nocturnal activities — winning the war against vampires.
watch the trailer >> Posted 05.29.12 by Ryan -
Director Tim Burton's upcoming Dark Shadows won't be the first TV series to move to the big screen, but it is one of the few to boast more than 1,200 episodes. Screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) was tasked with turning the TV show's many characters, plot twists, and tone into a single script. During the Dark Shadows press conference over the weekend, Grahame-Smith admitted that he hadn't exactly pored over every single minute of the show. "You can't sit down and watch 1250-some-odd episodes," said Grahame-Smith before Burton interrupted: "Without wanting to kill yourself." Luckily, for Grahame-Smith, he had some help.
When I came into it, there had been materials that were given to me, DVDs of compilations that actual Dark Shadows experts had put together, like, these are the seminal moments. I was given book of characters and plot lines and just studied them. And then, I remember we had our first meeting — Tim and Johnny [Depp] and I — [and] just sat around a table and started talking about the things that they loved about the show and talking about moments that would be fun to explore.
more from Grahame-smith and Burton talks sequel >> Posted 05.09.12 by Ryan -
The next few months will see a steady influx of comic book adaptations opening in theaters, including The Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
OK, so maybe Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter isn't exactly based on a comic book, but rather the best-selling novel by author-screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the upcoming Dark Shadows). Still, by changing the former US President's history to include vampires, Lincoln's life has been essentially transformed into that of a superhero's comic book mythology, one that leads a double life. By day, Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) helps run the country, and by night, he tries to vanquish the world from its hidden, bloodsucking threat. In the latest featurette, Grahame-Smith, along with producer Tim Burton and director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), makes the case that Lincoln isn't too different from Batman, including having his own cape, mask, and utility belt.
watch the featurette >> Posted 05.04.12 by Ryan -
Mash-up author Seth Grahame-Smith isn't finished writing books (his third novel, Unholy Night, will be published in April), but he's been spending plenty of time in Hollywood. Along with working as a screenwriter for director Tim Burton's Dark Shadows, Grahame-Smith is adapting his second best-selling novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Blending Lincoln's actual history with vampires (or finally revealing Lincoln's actual vampire history, depending on how you want to look at it), Grahame-Smith's book took a more scholarly approach, but as the writer told SlashFilm in a recent interview, the movie version became more action-oriented once director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) got involved.
what is happening with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? >> Posted 03.28.12 by Ryan -
Fans of the late 1960s/early '70s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows had to wait until this month to see the first trailer for Tim Burton's big-screen adaptation, despite the movie opening in May. Reaction was mixed, as the trailer seemed to be edging closer to comedy than the melodrama of the TV show, a decision that some fans appreciated and some didn't. In a recent interview with SlashFilm, screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) didn't shy away from calling Dark Shadows a "funny" movie, while also explaining that Burton's version is also a "Gothic, dark movie" with "a lot of soap opera in it."
I mean the movie is a lot of different things, just like the soap opera was a lot of different things. I think that we weren't afraid to let Johnny [Depp] invent this character and be funny. I think if you were just going to do a straight forward soap opera for two hours, I think people would get bored. I think people want to be entertained. So I think we've found a great way to entertain people but also stay true to some of the origins of the series.
watch the TV spots >> Posted 03.28.12 by Ryan -
It's been a little while since we saw a new pic from Dark Shadows, director Tim Burton's adaptation of the Gothic soap opera, the most recent image being Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins that arrived last month. To help fill the void, Shock Till You Drop has found a new still from European site Luces Camara Y Blog that features Depp staring down Eva Green's character of Angelique Brouchard, the witch that cursed Barnabas into being a vampire.
Dark Shadows was adapted by Seth Grahame-Smith, who knows something about looking at the horror genre with a sense of humor after writing the best-selling mash-up novels Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer (and writing the screenplay for the latter). In a conversation with BadAss Digest, Grahame-Smith said the tone of the movie is "soap operatic" — which makes sense considering the source material — that has a "an absurdist element to it."
more from grahame-smith and see the full image >> Posted 02.16.12 by Ryan -
Writer Seth Grahame-Smith first gained notoriety writing the mash-up novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which Lionsgate has optioned, but is having a hard time keeping a director on board, having just lost its third. Grahame-Smith's second best-selling novel, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, was also turned into a movie, with Grahame-Smith handling the script adaptation. The writer then moved on to handling the script for the upcoming Dark Shadows and, most recently, took on the responsibilities of writing a Beetlejuice sequel as part of a production deal he signed with Warner Bros. last September.
Not many Beetlejuice fans were pleased with the idea of another installment, so Grahame-Smith told EW last October that the sequel will be "a true continuation 26 years later" after the original and will feature Michael Keaton as the title character. While the movie has yet to be written, Grahame-Smith told ShockTillYouDrop that he has met with Keaton about the sequel.
grahame-smith talks Beetlejuice and Abraham Lincoln sequels >> Posted 02.14.12 by Ryan -
Recent "spy" photos from the set of the upcoming adaptation of Dark Shadows offered the first look at Johnny Depp as the 200-year-old vampire Barnabas Collins, and from the looks of it, Depp was wearing so much clownish goth make-up that it put his Mad Hatter role from Alice in Wonderland to shame.
Luckily, director Tim Burton has delivered a first look photo of the cast, where Depp, and the rest of the cast, look more like they just stepped out of the ABC gothic soap opera on which the movie is based. "I remember seeing a group photograph of the cast of the original series," Burton told EW. "For me it captured the weird Dark Shadows vibe in a single image. I had a brief window of opportunity to have our cast present at the same time, the day before principle photography began. We decided to stage a similar picture instead of rehearsing, to see if we captured the Dark Shadows feeling."
more about the strange Collins family >> Posted 09.23.11 by Ryan -
Director Timur Bekmambetov's adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter seemed like an irony-filled look at history with the inclusion of vampires but, in March, cast member Anthony Mackie, who plays Lincoln's friend and fellow vampire slayer Will, called the movie "a recontextualization of history" that shows "actual moments and things that happened in the annals of time."
Evidence of Mackie's statement can be found in The New York Times release of the first photo from the movie, which shows Benjamin Walker as Lincoln making a speech in a scene that looks more like a historical reenactment than a vampire movie. There's a reason for that: 20th Century Fox doesn't want anyone to see what the vampires look like, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is working hard to be as historically accurate as possible.
"We are very committed," said Bekmambetov.
people like presidents to kick butt >> Posted 05.10.11 by Ryan