[Kino] Wake the Dead

[SFI]

Talk about a resurrection. Screen rights to Wake the Dead, Steve Niles' modern-day Frankenstein graphic novel first published by IDW in 2004, once resided over at Dimension Films with Trick 'r Treat's Mike Dougherty attached to adapt. The project was ultimately kicked into turnaround which has allowed Niles, in the last few years, to find other interested parties.

And it appears he has. Niles reveals director Jay Russell (Ladder 49, The Water Horse) is now on board the film with screenwriter James V. Hart (Bram Stoker's Dracula).

"The one lesson I've finally learned is the projects are more important than the announcements," Niles tells ShockTillYouDrop.com, referring to the timespan shortly after rights to 30 Days of Night were picked up and it appeared nearly every one of his graphic novels was in some stage of film development. "Me and Jay have been working for three or four years now to get this going. All through him doing The Water Horse. And we've just been steadily hammering away at it. He's always had a consistent vision and he knows this is a modern re-telling of Frankenstein. It's grim death. It's about as far from My Dog Skip as you can get."

Niles believes Russell will bring a unique vision to the horror genre, but what is also charging his excitement is Hart's contribution. "This team we've assembled is amazing," he exudes. "People are going to wonder why I'm not even going to take a crack at writing it. After doing 30 Days of Night and the heartbreak of being the powerless writer...if it wasn't for [Sam] Raimi and [director David] Slade I would've been brushed under the carpet. They kept me in the loop. With this I want to have a little more say."

The author will act as a producer on Wake and teases big news regarding studio and FX involvement is on the way.

Quelle: ShockTillYouDrop.com