More 3-D Sequels Coming

‘Tis the day for 3-D Movie News (when isn’t it, I guess?) – the trades have announced another three ear-chafing 2010 releases.

Night of the Living Dead : Origins

Six are lending their lungs to three-dimensional zombie pic “Night of the Living Dead : Origins”, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Many of the cast – like Danielle Harris (“Halloween”) and Bill Moseley (“The Devils Rejects”) – are old horror vets.

Zebediah de Soto will direct the flick, a gimmicky update of the old George Romero classic.
Simon West (“Con-Air”) is one of the producers.

The story again follows a group of humans trying to stay alive during a zombie attack.

The main characters are :

• A news reporter – played by Jessie Corti (“Heroes”)

• A woman who held her family together forced to come to grips with its absence – played by Harris

• A Wall Street-type with an expense account attitude – played by Moseley (he actually played the same role in the 1990 “Living Dead” remake)

• Harry Cooper, a blue-collar worker who lives for his injured daughter – played by Joe Pilato (“Dawn of the Dead”, “Day of the Dead”)

• Helen Cooper, who blames her husband for all the ills of the world – voiced by Alona Tal (“Supernatural”)

• A New York Cop – played by Cornell Womack (“Rescue Me”)

De Soto said some of the casting is “a nod to Romero fans. Horror is a genre and zombie movies are a subgenre that people have been following for years and years.”

The over-ambitious filmmaker tells the trade, “Origins” is “going to be the first zombie movie played on a epic scale. This is the ‘Empire of the Sun’ of zombie films. … I lived through the L.A. riots and saw the city on fire; I remember seeing people running, people getting pulled out of cars. And with 9/11, these images have been ingrained on people of my generation. I just thought that is the way it would really be, a lot of chaos.”

Zombieland 3D

Meanwhile, you’ll recall Moviehole was the first to put to print news that “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer was working on a “3D” sequel – and a big thanks to all you guys that ran the story! – and now, not surprisingly, those always-quick-to-confirm-indy-website-rumours trades have confirmed the news…. sans credit, of course (To be fair, Variety have added a couple more details to the news – namely that Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are working on the sequel’s screenplay, and that Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are currently in negotiations).

The trade has rustled up a quote from “Zombieland” producer Gavin Molone who says, “Everyone had fun watching (the first) ‘Zombieland’; making it a more visceral experience can only make it better,” said the film’s producer Gavin Polone. “I don’t think you want to see ‘Ordinary People’ in 3-D. But ‘Zombieland’ is clearly one movie that will benefit from (the technique).”

Director Ruben Fleischer told Moviehole a week or two ago that they’re currently trying to “Crack” the story for “Zombieland 3D”.

Jackass 3D

Variety also mentions Paramount’s “Jackass 3D” – yes, because those films aren’t in-your-face enough! – will begin filming in January. Johnny Knoxville will return.

Struth!…..

Man, there’s a mass of 3-D movies on the way for 2010, here’s a quick look at some that’ll be coming-your-way in a few month’s time :

Halloween 3D – “My Bloody Valentine 3D” duo Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer reunite to help audiences forget about Rob Zombie’s “Halloween 2”.

Drive Angry 3D – The aforementioned duo are also involved in this new Nic Cage flick.

Creepshow 3D – Taurus releasing are looking to tell a few Creepy stories in 3-D.

Condition Dead 3D – Patrick Lussier (Yep, again!) directs a zombified version of Jim Cameron’s “Aliens”.

Spy Kids 4 3D – Robert Rodriguez wants to show off some of the new toys he’s snapped up since “Spy Kids 3D : Game Over”.

Alice in Wonderland – Tim Burton and Disney team up on what’s sure to be an off-the-wall interpretation of the fantasy classic.

Shrek goes Fourth – The fourth and final instalment in the “Shrek” series will require audiences to don Green glasses. Spin-off “Puss in Boots” may also be in 3-D.

How to Train Your Dragon – The latest from Dreamworks’ will also be jumping on the 3-D bandwagon.

Toy Story 3D – It’d probably sell like hot cakes without it playing in 3-D, but hey, bonus!

Step Up 3D – You asked for it, you… oh, you didn’t!?

Yogi Bear – Tom Cavanagh’s Ranger Smith will be tsk tsk’ing Yogi and Boo-Boo in the third dimension.

Hellraiser 3D – How do you resurrect a dead-dog? Slap some ear-chafing sunnies on it!