Boo! in a duel sense. Bloody Disgusting reported over the weekend that Legendary Pictures has screened their nicely buzzed Halloween-themed anthology flick, Trick ‘R Treat, in hopes of picking up a new distributor. According to STYD, Warner Bros. (Where the Wild Things Are, ahem) has categorically removed the film from its 2008 schedule for theatrical and home entertainment releases after pushing the film off its original October ‘07 release date. What gives?
Not only is the film a much needed shot of original horror in a time of glossy mall-kid remakes (Prom Night, April Fool’s Day) and sequels (Saw, TCM), but it boasts respected, recognizable faces (Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Brian Cox) and tested through the roof with fanboys. AICN has loudly championed writer/director Michael Dougherty’s film for practically ages now. Moreover, mainstream awareness was boosted by the inclusion of a Trick ‘R Treat trailer attached to DVDs of 300. There is speculation on the Nets that an Idiocracy-like situation has gone down, but there’s no evidence as of yet.
The latest release date was set for October ‘08, which was a no-brainer. “If It’s Halloween, It Must Be Saw” is the old dude in the club. Warner Bros. had a great opportunity to build a franchise and new moviegoer tradition with this real estate, and a new Creepshow would be next levs. Let’s hope Legendary finds a proper replacement. More on this as it develops…
Discuss: Are you aware of Trick ‘R Treat? If so, what have you heard? Why do you think Warner Bros. put the kibosh on it?
April 7th, 2008 at 11:45 am
What exactly does this article have to do with “Where the Wild Thigs Are”?
April 7th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I am dissapointed in warner bros. I had a very lucky chance to see this movie back in ‘07 and it is a refreshing horror. Not like halloween remakes or friday the 13th, it is like a modern day creepshow but more darker in tone. It definately should be released but hopefully they wont make numerous sequels out of it as it is a very good film and would hate to see it go bad.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Yeah, I’ve definitely heard of it and I saw that trailer in front of the 300 DVD that you mentioned. It actually looks pretty decent from what I remember, so here’s hoping that Legendary (what a sweet company) gets their stuff together and finds a distributor in time for a 2008 release.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:55 am
I have been looking forward to this film for over a year. I was so disappointed when it failed to come out last October and am even more disappointed to hear this. Honestly, how hard could it be to market a horror movie titled, “Trick ‘r Treat” around in October?
April 7th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I wonder who exactly has a problem with this film. I wanted to see it last year, I still have a copy of the trailer on my hard drive. It looks awesome. Considering it’s a Halloween movie, I guess they can only release it once a year. That’s a nightmare. Imagine directing a film and it being rejected, then having to wait an entire year before it can be released.
I find the remakes and sequels of horror films pretty offensive, I don’t know what is offensive about this? They should release it, I think it will make money.
April 7th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
There was also toys for this at Toyfair. I doubt it will be lost in Limbo. I’m thinking Anchor Bay or someone will pick it up or in a unprecedented purchase, Asylum buys it then releases it theatrically. Imagine the headlines!! ^_^
April 7th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
For the record, Idiocracy needed to be dropped. This, however, sounded like a great flick. I hope it comes to the theater sooner rather than later.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
That’s unfortunate since the early reviews for this were really good.
April 7th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
what are you talking about, Eddie?
April 7th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Trick or FAIL
April 7th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Honestly, I’m getting dissapointed in WB. I’m sure they’ll drop ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ too. Infact, It’s better if they didn’t touch it and let another studio release then!
April 7th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
I was so looking forward to seeing this as well, this sucks.
PLEASE SOMEONE DISTRIBUTE THIS FILM!
April 7th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
@ Davezilla
I’m talking about the post…
“There is speculation on the Nets that an Idiocracy-like situation has gone down…”
April 7th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Oh, and has anyone seen the NECA Trick or Treat action figure? Wonder what will happen to that licensing agreement if the film gets whacked.
April 7th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
“The latest release date was set for October ‘08, which was a no-brainer. “If It’s Halloween, It Must Be Saw†is the old dude in the club. Warner Bros. had a great opportunity to build a franchise and new moviegoer tradition with this real estate, and a new Creepshow would be next levs. Let’s hope Legendary finds a proper replacement. More on this as it develops…”
WHAT? Am I crazy or is that paragraph nonsense?
April 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I, for one, would like to hear more about the early non-AICN reviews. Maybe AICN is the go-to website for horror reviews, but I’d take anything they say (about any movie, actually) with a bucketful of salt.
That said, this did look like it had promise, but given its premise and limited release window, I can see why a studio would hesitate in releasing it in October against Saw. Look at Halloween last year: released in August (seriously). Hopefully, the Saw franchise will wear out its welcome in the next year or two (or three) and we can get back to a steady stream of horror flicks in late September through October.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I see imdb says the movie will be released in 2009, Ive waited tooooooooo long to see this movie, bet ur life we gotta wait till 2010.
June 2nd, 2008 at 6:54 am
This is definetly a huge dissapoitment, I’m a horror fan, and will watch any horror flick you throw in my face, only problem is, they all suck, originals are the best, not this whole new teeny bop scary movie, wheres the good stuff like Nosferatu, best remake so far, was Rob Zombies Halloween, anyway, this movie looks amazing,especially for being a horror fanatic, and for being 18 and still trying to find a way to celebrate Halloween, it better come soon, it’ll hit big, it won’t flop like everything else, horror movies have become nothing more then something for a 12 yr. old to take his girlfriend to go see after they get out of school so she’ll hug his arm, and then his mom will bake them cookies after, this movie looks like it could bring us fanatics back
June 21st, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I know why the movie hasn’t come out it was pro Hezbala.
June 21st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
We are making a ton off the Saw franchise and don’t want to cut into the sales of a our Saw franchise which is releasing number 5 this coming fall. The less we offer the public the less they will demand. Who would have ever believed there was an intelligent shark chasing three men on a boat if we had released Pirates of the Caribbean featuring the hammerhead pirate first. The audience would have never taken the “Jaws” concept serious. We are molding the goyim to be be sensitive to our income and foreign policy needs. Grooming them takes decades. We are some 2,000 plus years ahead of you on the calendar. Everything has it time and its place.