News

NBC has put in development By The Book, a single-camera comedy from Dava Savel (Will & Grace) & Tim Sullivan (Letters To Juliet) and Craig Zadan and Neil Meron’s Storyline Entertainment. The project explores the question: What do you do when your wife dies, leaving two kids to raise and you haven't a clue how to do it? Simple – follow the instructions she left for you in a book. Savel and Sullivan will write the pilot, an adaptation of Sullivan’s screenplay of the same…...

Read the winning entries from 2010

Overall Winner

Film, 14-18s

Alice in Wonderland by Rebecca Grant, 15

Tim Burton has snatched the beautifully eccentric odyssey that we once lovingly knew as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, wrung it dry of anything resembling the endearingly capricious originality of the children's classic, and slung the disgusting dregs into a pretentious, Disneyfied quest movie replete with, frankly, un-special effects.

Burton's insistence that his film was not a re-imagining or sequel to other "Alice movies" made me wonder whether he had actually read the book at all. Nineteen-year-old Alice, played by the apparently tranquilised Mia Wasikowska, spends a disproportionate amount of time at the beginning of the movie prancing around in a tediously twee caricature of Victorian high society. When the dopey antagonist finally wiggles her way into Wonderland, we are ambushed by the White Rabbit, the Dormouse, the Dodo, Tweedledum and Tweedledee all at once,...

Director: Gary Winick Writer: Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan DVD and Blu-ray release date: October 4 2010 Studio: E1 Entertainment Number of discs: 1 Price: From £10.99-£14.93 Running Time: 105 mins Certificate: PG Starring: Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal, Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan The trailers and poster virtually tell you all you need to know about this film, including its conclusion so why rent or buy it? Letters to Juliet is unlikely to attract film geeks, a male audience or more discerning film goers but that said, hardcore romcom fans won't be disappointed. Young engaged couple, Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Victor (Gael García Bernal), go to Italy, combining pleasure with business as Victor plans to meet potential suppliers for his soon-to-open restaurant. While sightseeing in Verona, Sophie discovers “Juliet's secretaries”, so-called because this group of sensitive souls answer love-struck letters left by locals and tourists under Juliet's balcony. Helping the loved-up ladies, Sophie discovers a...

Around here at Dread Central there are few filmmakers we love more than the ever so outspoken and off the rails main maniac himself, Tim Sullivan. Given the importance of this weekend for horror Tim has chimed in with a message for not only his fans but all horror fans everywhere.

"Dear Fellow Horror Fan --

Went to the premiere of Hatchet II last night and couldn’t be prouder of my brother in horror Adam Green. Not only did he make a movie that broke all the rules and put Fun back into horror, he did it His way, without bending to the big studios or the MPAA. Adam made the kind of films true horror fans beg for. I know they have, because I hear them loud and clear at conventions, festivals and daily on Facebook and Twitter. Us indie horror guys have been listening to you. So...

Chicago – Vanessa Redgrave’s role in “Letters to Juliet” could not have come at a more poignant time in her life. She plays a starry-eyed woman in her twilight years, desperate to reconnect with her childhood sweetheart. He’s played by Franco Nero, the man Redgrave fell for on the set of 1969’s “Camelot.” She was Guinevere and Nero was Lancelot. Yet they didn’t marry until 2006.

That’s why it’s profoundly difficult to avoid getting a lump in your throat when Redgrave’s long lost love materializes before her very eyes, on a horse no less (you half expect him to be singing, “If Ever I Would Leave You”). It’s also impossible not to be moved during an earlier moment, when Redgrave pauses before a gravestone, fearing that her love is truly gone for good. This sequence probably didn’t require much acting from the screen legend,...

By Kevin Crust

Hollywoodnews.com: A return to Sherwood Forest doesn’t herald any type of rich-to-poor stimulus package so the Man in the Iron Suit will continue to control the box-office lucre. In more modest offerings, the new princess of romance is back and the Queen indulges in some romantic comedy hoop dreams of her own.

Robin Hood

Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott re-team for this origin story of how the Prince of Thieves came to be. Cate Blanchett as Marian and Matthew Macfadyen as the Sheriff of Nottingham are also onboard. Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland wrote the screenplay with Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris also receiving story credit.

The historical epic, marketed as “Gladiator” meets Medieval Times, is getting mixed reviews from critics after debuting at Cannes. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times finds it “simultaneously simplistic and over-plotted, revisionist and predictable.” For the Chicago Sun-Times’ Roger Ebert,...

Rating: 2.5/5.0

Chicago – I want to live in the alternate universe where Vanessa Redgrave’s Claire is the lead of “Letters to Juliet” and the two vapid dorks who trail her on a journey of lost love can learn a lesson or two but never take the spotlight. Sadly, such is not the case with this Amanda Seyfried and Christopher Egan vehicle, a romantic drama entirely stolen from its young stars by a timeless actress.

Mostly due to Redgrave’s contributions and some gorgeous cinematography of the amazing countryside of Northern Italy, “Letters to Juliet” is never anywhere near as offensively stupid as recent excused for romance like “Leap Year” or “Valentine’s Day”. In many ways, it’s just as clichéd, predictable, and boring, but one of the best living actresses proves that she can take even a half-conceived character and completely bring her to life.

Read Brian Tallerico’s...

By Sean O’Connell

Hollywoodnews.com: Competing storybook romances open in theaters today, and surprisingly, the one that’s centered around the hapless New Jersey Nets competing for an NBA Championship is the more believable of the two.

Letters to Juliet (*1/2 out of 4)

Gary Winick’s “Letters to Juliet” is a sappily-ever-after fairy tale. It’s picturesque, with gorgeous photographs of romantic Verona, Italy. But the action that takes place in the desirable European setting is woefully processed. Even those who wholeheartedly subscribe to the possibilities of true love will gag on the gallons of syrup that ooze off the screen.

At least you know right away this is a fantasy. How else could the movie explain that doe-eyed Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) earns enough money as a fact-checker for The New Yorker to jet-set to Italy on a pre-wedding honeymoon with her workaholic fiancée (Gael Garcia Bernal)? She also has...

Director: Gary Winick Writers: Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal, Franco Nero We meet Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) – a fact-checker for the New Yorker – as she attempts to track down a first-person witness of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic photograph of an American sailor kissing a young woman in a white dress on V-j Day in Times Square on August 14, 1945. The scene seems rather pointless as it plays out, but we discover that this is quite purposeful foreshadowing once Sophie joins Claire’s (Vanessa Redgrave) blind quest to track down a former lover. But I’m getting ahead of myself… Sophie is engaged to a food-obsessed chef – Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal) – who will soon be opening his very own Italian restaurant in New York City. Knowing that the restaurant opening will be hectic and distracting, Sophie and Victor embark on a pre-wedding vacation to Verona,...

Rating: 2/5

Writers: Jose Rivera, Tim Sullivan

Director: Gary Winick

Cast: Amanda Seyfried, Christopher Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal, Franco Nero

Studio: Summit Entertainment

There is not a thing I can tell you about the plot of Letters To Juliet that one viewing of the film’s trailer will not tell you. I can give no special illumination to the story of Amanda Seyfried’s Sophie, who travels to Verona with her manic idiot fiancé Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal), only to discover the wall of heartbreaking love letters to Juliet. There is no part of the further proceedings – how Sophie answers a letter that is over fifty years old that almost immediately ends up with her tripping up to the further reaches of Italy with Claire (Vanessa Redgrave) and her grandson Charlie (Christopher Egan) as they search for the boy from the letter, now grown man Lorenzo (Franco Nero) – that I have insight into.

Chicago – Christopher Egan is an Australian actor portraying a Londoner on holiday in Italy. That internationalism has helped him tackle his first major lead role opposite Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave in the new film “Letters to Juliet.”

Egan climbed the show business ladder through his native Australia, honing his chops on the long-running and popular Aussie TV series “Home and Away.” American audiences might remember him as David Shepard, modeled after the biblical King David in the short-lived NBC TV series, “Kings.”

Amanda Seyfried as Sophie, Vanessa Redgrave as Claire and Christopher Egan as Charlie in ‘Letters to Juliet’

Photo Credit: John P. Johnson for © 2009 Summit Entertainment, LLC

This good looking and charismatic actor was anxious to talk with HollywoodChicago.com about his lead role in Letters to Juliet, especially the experience of performing with the great Vanessa Redgrave (as his grandmother) and one of the hottest young actresses of the moment,...

Chicago – In our latest romance edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 30 admit-two passes up for grabs to the advance Chicago screening of “Letters to Juliet” with Amanda Seyfried of “Mamma Mia!” fame!

The film also features Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Marcia DeBonis, Gael García Bernal, Giordano Formenti, Paolo Arvedi, Dario Conti, Daniel Baldock, Ivana Lotito, Luisa Ranieri, Marina Massironi, Lidia Biondi, Milena Vukotic and Luisa De Santis from director Gary Winick (“Bride Wars”) and writers Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan. “Letters to Juliet” opens nationwide on May 14, 2010.

To win your free pass to the advance Chicago screening of “Letters to Juliet” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just answer our question below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

The movie poster for “Letters to Juliet” with Amanda Seyfried.

Summit Entertainment has dropped a lot of new clips from "Letters to Juliet". The videos share the scenes which all feature female lead Amanda Seyfried but with different co-stars, including Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan as well as Franco Nero.

The film centers its story on Seyfried's Sophie who travels to Verona, Italy, the setting of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". There, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love.

After answering one letter dated 1951, she inspires its author, Redgrave's Claire Wyman, to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined.

"Letters to Juliet" is directed by Gary Winick and is written by Jose Rivera alongside Tim Sullivan. This drama movie is scheduled to hit U.S. theaters on May...

Win tickets to see Summit Entertainment's eagerly anticipated "Letters to Juliet" starring Amanda Seyfried, Gael Garcia Bernal, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Egan, Franco Nero, Luisa Ranieri and Daniel Baldock! The Gary Winick-directed romantic drama is written by Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan. Caroline Kaplan, Ellen Barkin and Mark Canton produced film opens on May 14th. You'll love this one. When a young American (Amanda Seyfried) travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated 1957, she inspires its author (Vanessa Redgrave) to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love, and sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they ever imagined...

There's Lots of horror coming to the Lone Star state this April, and we've got the early word on what movies you can expect to see playing during the Texas Frightmare Film Festival.

From the Press Release

"Texas Frightmare Weekend announced it has extended the dates for its companion Texas Frightmare Film Festival this year (April 28–May 1). Highlights from the lineup include the Us premiere of Tim Sullivan’s 2001 Maniacs: Field Of Screams, George Romero’s Survival Of The Dead, and Adam Green’s Sundance hit Frozen.

Green’s Frozen stars Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell, and Kevin Zegers and follows the life or death choices a trio of skiers and snowboarders must make when they find themselves abandoned on a ski resort chairlift. The film, which was a surprise hit at the Sundance Film Festival in January, will screen at the Studio Movie Grill in Lewisville on Wednesday, April 28, at 7:00Pm.

Summit Entertainment has released synopses and some first look images from their 2010 films and it’s all after the jump. They’re 2010 preview includes The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, directed by David Slade (Hard Candy) and starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and Bryce Dallas Howard; Furry Vengeance, directed by Roger Kumble (College Road Trip) and starring Brendan Fraser and Brooke Shields; Letters to Juliet, directed by Gary Winick (Bride Wars) and starring Amanda Seyfried, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Vanessa Redgrave; Remember Me, directed by Allen Coulter (Hollywoodland) and starring Robert Pattinson, Emile de Ravin, Chris Cooper, and Pierce Brosnan; and The Ghostwriter, directed by Roman Polanski (Chinatown) and starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Wilkinson, Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, and Eli Wallach.

Also, while they didn’t release any images, they did provide the first synopsis for Red, which is directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan) and stars Bruce Willis,...

We have the trailer as well as images in from Summit Entertainment's "Letters to Juliet" romance starring Gary Winick ("Bride Wars," "Charlotte's Web") directs from the screenplay written by Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan. Pic sees theatres on May 7th next year and is produced by Caroline Kaplan, Ellen Barkin and Mark Canton. When a young American (Amanda Seyfried) travels to the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of Romeo and Juliet fame, she joins a group of volunteers who respond to letters to Juliet seeking advice about love. After answering one letter dated from 1957, she inspires its author (Vanessa Redgrave) to travel to Italy in search of her long-lost love, which sets off a chain of events that will bring a love into both their lives unlike anything they have ever imagined...

Be still my Shakespearian heart. Yes, I've written about ol' Will a lot lately, and now it's time for more, although with this round, the Bard is providing the inspiration rather than the story. Variety reports that Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Franco Nero will star in Letters to Juliet, an adaptation of Lise and Ceil Friedman's book. (Not to be confused with this Juliet-inspired project.)

Riffing on the book, which talks about Verona and the multitude of people who write letters to Juliet in care of the city, the story will follow a couple (Seyfriend and Garcia Bernal) who vacation in Italy and mistakenly get one of these letters. Written by Redgrave's character, the letter recounts her memories of being romanced during a trip to the country long ago. Inspired, Seyfried heads to Tuscany to find the woman's lost love (Nero). Man, she likes playing Cupid.

Summit Entertainment has set Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero to star in Letters to Juliet , the Gary Winick-directed film that begins production June 25 in Italy, reports Variety . The film is based on a book by Lise and Ceil Friedman about the letters written by the lovelorn to star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet. The story follows a couple (Seyfried, Garcia) who take a trip to Italy and receive a note meant for Juliet written by a woman (Redgrave) searching for a young man who romanced her during a long-ago vacation in Italy. The young woman scours Tuscany to find the older woman's long-lost love (Nero). Jose Rivera wrote the script with Tim Sullivan.

It looks like Amanda Seyfried has gone and secured herself a nice spot in the sun again this summer, swapping last year's Greek island extravaganza in Mama Mia! for a romance-filled journey to Tuscany for Letters To Juliet. Starring alongside her will be Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero in the film directed by 13 Going On 30 and Bride Wars' Gary WinickThe adaptation of  Lise and Ceil Friedman's book follows a young couple on holiday in Italy who receive a note written by an older woman (Redgrave) searching for a former love. The young woman then embarks on a quest to reunite the lost lovers by tracking down the man who romanced her (played by Redgrave's real life husband Nero).Motorcycle Diaries writer Jose Rivera will be reunited with Gael Garcia Bernal, having penned the script with Jack & Sarah scribe Tim Sullivan.Seyfried must be feeling romantic, as...

According to Variety, Summit Entertainment has tapped Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael Garcia Bernal and Franco Nero to star in Letters to Juliet.

The film will be directed by Gary Winick and starts shooting on June 25 in Italy. It is based on a novel by Lise and Ceil Friedman "about the letters written by the lovelorn to star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet."

The film will follow a couple (Seyfried, Garcia) who venture to Italy and get a note meant for Juliet written by a woman (Redgrave), who is searching for a young man that romanced her during a vacation in the country long ago.

The script was written by Jose Rivera and Tim Sullivan. Producing the project are Mark Canton, Ellen Barkin and Caroline Kaplan.

Im Global Home Entertainment has acquired worldwide sales rights to the next "2001 Maniacs" pics. The movies "2001 Maniacs: Beverly Hellbillys" and "2001 Maniacs: The Hillbillys Have Eyes" will be written and directed by Tim Sullivan and produced by Social Capital's Martin Shore and Christopher Tuffin through their horror arm, BloodWorks. Robert Englund will reprise his role as a murderous mayor in the first pic. In the sequel, after the sheriff refuses to cover up any further for the maniacs causing all the missing persons in the area, they're forced to hit the road in what's dubbed the "Pleasant Valley Traveling Road Show," where the maniacs head across country in hopes of gathering more victims. We'll follow a young TV crew called the "Road Rascals" as they find themselves mixed up...

Issue #83

October 2008

Seems like just the other day my former editor contacted me about this new horror magazine from Canada who really wanted to start getting U.S. exposure called Rue Morgue. I agreed to check it out, even interviewed the editor-in-chief at the time, Rodrigo Gudino, and thus began a love affair with one of the coolest horror magazines ever produced.

Now Rue Morgue is turning 11 and to celebrate they’ve produced yet another massively amazing issue that’s about twice the size of their normal monthly output, but doesn’t compromise a single ounce of their usual badassness.

The focus for this issue is the 50th anniversary of Famous Monsters of Filmland, the horror magazine that started it all, and as usual the Rue crew threw their all into making sure every aspect of the magazine’s history is covered. To this end there's a huge interview with the mag’s founder,...

<p><img src="img/news/apr08/frightnight.gif" align="right" alt="New Fright Night commentaries!" style="padding:6px"> The sickos over at Icons of Fright have fulfilled their promise of delivering more “pirate” commentaries today with not one but <I>two</I> exclusive commentaries for Tom Holland’s classic <I>Fright Night</I>!</p> <p>Both commentaries are moderated by <I>2001 Maniacs</I> director and Shock N Roll columner Tim Sullivan; the first is with director Tom Holland and stars Chris Sarandon and Jonathan Stark. The second track is Holland again with stars William Ragsdale, Stephen Geoffreys, and FX artist Randall William Cook. Mr. Beaks from AICN co-moderates on this one, too, so it’s a full house!</p> <p>Head over to <a href="http://www.iconsoffright.com/Commentaries.htm" target="blank">Icons of Fright</a> to start downloading the commentaries now, and keep your eyeballs open for more of this very cool series soon!</p> <p>- <b><a href="/form.php?id=5" target="blank">Johnny Butane</b></a></p> <p><center><a href="http://www.dreadcentral.com/story/dread-centrals-poster-store">CHECK OUT DREAD CENTRAL’S NEW POSTER STORE!</A><br /> Got news? <a href=" /form.php?id=12" target="blank "><b>Click here</b> </a>to submit it!<br /> Find stuff to talka about in the <b><A HREF="/forums">Dread Central forums</A></b>!</center></p>...

Tom Cruise won't be lending his voice to the green ogre's villain in "Shrek Goes Fourth". His representative Jeff Raymond has debunked the speculation ignited earlier through E! Online stating simply and without further explanation, "As of today, there is no truth to the Tom Cruise-Shrek 4 rumor." On the other hand, DreamWorks have declined to give any comment.

Back on September 4, Cinema Blend sparked speculation that the "War of the Worlds" star may be on the run to give voice to one of the villains in the next installment of the Ogre comedic tale. At the time, the site pointed out that director Mike Mitchell, who is attached to the project, is rumored to be "something of a Tom Cruise fan".

The fourth installment of the hit animation movies from DreamWorks, "Shrek", "Goes Fourth" is most likely to be a prequel. It allegedly will be dealing with the...

If you were one of the legion of fans who picked up Child’s Play: 20th Birthday Edition (review) last week, I’m sure you noticed one glaring omission from the disc: anything from director Tom Holland!

Well, Icons of Fright noticed, too, and they decided to do something about it so they brought Holland in to record his very own commentary track for the disc! Tim Sullivan, whose Shock N Roll column is now housed at Icons, moderated the commentary, the first of many they promise to deliver to fans over the coming months.

Click here to start downloading the commentary track now, and look for two Fright Night commentaries from the boys next week!

- Johnny Butane

GET YOURSELF SOMETHING COOL FROM EVILSHOP!

Got news? Click here to submit it!

Wish your favorite directors would do stuff for you? Join the Dread Central forums!

A while back before he became a director, Tim Sullivan used to write a column in which he would candidly interview horror luminaries called Shock N Roll. It was always a favorite of mine, and now it's making its triumphant return!

Icons of Fright has teamed up with writer/director Tim Sullivan to bring its readers a heavy dose of Shock N Roll. Exclusive to the site, Tim Sullivan's Shock N Roll will continue the Icons of Fright tradition of conducting in-depth interviews with genre professionals.

Confirmed participants for the September launch include Masters of Horror Frank Darabont, Tom Holland, David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, and in an interview truly embodying the Shock N Roll moniker, a joint conversation reuniting Tobe Hooper with punk icon Billy Idol. (Hooper directed Idol's "Dancing With Myself" video back in 1983).

Said Sullivan, "As a filmmaker who began his career as a journalist, I have...