Kathy Butler Sandvoss and Scott Thomas star in G.H.O.S.T. from Mutantville Productions.
Welcome back to another edition of Mutantville Mondays here on Mutantville.com! The Mutantville Players had another productive weekend of editing and working on promotional planning. As of this writing, we’re about three weeks deep into the final cut of G.H.O.S.T. and it’s coming along quite nicely. We’re anticipating another week or two of steady editing and the movie will be ready for the score and final sound design to be put in place.
(Read the rest after the leap!)
LOCAL CINEMA NEWS!!!
In local news, the Back Alley Film Series – BAFS for short – is hosting a screening of Norwegian Ninja on Thursday, September 22nd at 7:30pm in Charlotte. Norwegian Ninja tells the true story of how Commander Arne Treholt and 
his ninja force saved Norway during the Cold War. Norwegian Ninja plays Thursday, September 22nd at the Crownpoint Stadium 12 in Charlotte, NC. Check out the official BAFS website for details.
KEVIN SMITH’S RED STATE HITS THEATERS!!!
This Sunday, Kevin Smith will host nationwide screenings of his horror film Red State. The story of Red State started back in 2006 when Smith was shopping his script around to the various studios and was met with rejection from each and every one of them. Not to be swayed from his task, Smith set about acquiring financing for the movie on his own, even going so far as to take a job directing Bruce Willis in Cop Out to get enough seed money to get the project started.
Fast forward five years to Spring 2011 and Kevin Smith has just screened Red State at the Sundance Film Festival and he decides to tell all of the studios in attendance that he is going to distribute the film on his own – effectively thumbing his nose at over a century of tradition. Smith took Red State out on a nationwide road show and without spending a dime on advertising, sold enough tickets at each venue to completely cover all of his costs. Fast forward a few more months to September and Smith has made a DVD/VOD distribution deal with Lionsgate and this weekend on Sunday September 25th, Smith will host screenings of Red State live via satellite and twitter at selected theaters across the country.
Kevin Smith’s fans in North Carolina will need to check out the Galaxy Cinema in Cary website for tickets. Visit the official website for Kevin Smith’s Red State by clicking here.
HORROR BATTLES LION KING AT BOX OFFICE!!!
At the box office – the resurgent The Lion King 3D knocked Contagion out of the top spot – but only down to the number two spot for a weekend total of $14,480.000. The remake of Sam Peckinpah’s 1971 classic Straw Dogs only grossed $5 million over the weekend – dropping significantly from previous horror efforts that have averaged at least $8 million per weekend. The audience has spoken this season and they have eschewed the remakes and 3D gimmick movies for the more original and unique offerings.
From Box Office Mojo:
“Last weekend’s winner Contagion declined a light 35 percent to an estimated $14.5 million, which brought its 10-day total to $44.2 million. That drop is about in line with last September’s The Town, which indicates that Contagion should be headed for a final tally around $80 million.”
If this prediction holds true – Contagion will make back it’s $60,000,000 price tag – but just barely. The big winners of the early Fall season have been Apollo 18 and Final Destination 5. Apollo 18 has currently grossed $31,539,922 worldwide, far exceeding it’s meager budget of $5 million. Final Destination 5 only grossed $42 million stateside – but the overseas market seems to love seeing American teens get tortured because they coughed up a hefty sum of $88 million in foreign markets. Horror filmmakers take note, it’s creativity and imagination that viewers respond to – not lofty price tags and A-list celebs (Fright Night remake anyone?).
