Buter's Script Sale of the Week...
October 8th, 2001
It's a sure sign that Hollywood is up and running again when the tragic events of September 11th start influencing projects in development. Miramax has not only put Andy McNab's Osama bin Laden tale, CRISIS FOUR, on the fast track, but has also snatched up the memoirs of one Saira Shah, a former war correspondent whose parents emigrated from Afghanistan. Whoever said the Weinstein brothers weren't opportunistic, eh? Other sales of note this week include the political thrillers LAST PLACE
ON EARTH and ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET. And the premise for Disney's STUNTMAN sounds like it could be either hilarious or horrible.
My pick this week is the horror pitch POTTER'S FIELD, which was acquired by Phoenix Pictures.
I've picked this project because it sounds like it could be a really cool horror flick. The story involves a group of juvenile delinquents who are forced to take part in a "scared straight" program at Riker's Island where they're supposed to get a taste of prison life and thus reform their wicked ways. (If you've never seen the 70's documentary SCARED STRAIGHT, check it out. Great stuff.) As part of the program, the little troublemakers have to spend a night on burial duty with the inmates. Scary enough, but scribe Dan Clark ups the ante by introducing the evil ghost of a former prisoner into the proceedings.
I'm not familiar with Clark's first script, SHOOTING L.A., but I hope his screenplay for POTTER'S FIELD can live up to its intriguing premise.
This purchase marks the start of Phoenix's new and as yet unnamed horror division. With this project, I think they have the chance to take horror back to it's roots; that is, atmospheric films that scare the crap out of audiences without lapsing into forced irony and tired self referentialism. The days of SCREAM are gone, as the absolutely dreadful farce SCARY MOVIE 2 has proven.
Let's hope Phoenix Pictures has seen the light and delivers a real "scary" movie.
-- Edward Butler
ON EARTH and ON GREEN DOLPHIN STREET. And the premise for Disney's STUNTMAN sounds like it could be either hilarious or horrible.
My pick this week is the horror pitch POTTER'S FIELD, which was acquired by Phoenix Pictures.
I've picked this project because it sounds like it could be a really cool horror flick. The story involves a group of juvenile delinquents who are forced to take part in a "scared straight" program at Riker's Island where they're supposed to get a taste of prison life and thus reform their wicked ways. (If you've never seen the 70's documentary SCARED STRAIGHT, check it out. Great stuff.) As part of the program, the little troublemakers have to spend a night on burial duty with the inmates. Scary enough, but scribe Dan Clark ups the ante by introducing the evil ghost of a former prisoner into the proceedings.
I'm not familiar with Clark's first script, SHOOTING L.A., but I hope his screenplay for POTTER'S FIELD can live up to its intriguing premise.
This purchase marks the start of Phoenix's new and as yet unnamed horror division. With this project, I think they have the chance to take horror back to it's roots; that is, atmospheric films that scare the crap out of audiences without lapsing into forced irony and tired self referentialism. The days of SCREAM are gone, as the absolutely dreadful farce SCARY MOVIE 2 has proven.
Let's hope Phoenix Pictures has seen the light and delivers a real "scary" movie.
-- Edward Butler
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