Screen Rant » 30 days of night

First Poster & Trailer For Vampire Film ‘Daybreakers’

Ross Miller — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:32:14 +0000

Daybreakers is an upcoming vampire film with a twist – the vampires are the majority, and the humans are the ones who live in fear and are hunted. It stars Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, and Sam Neill, and today we have the Daybreakers teaser poster and full trailer for your viewing pleasure.

Before we get to the poster and trailer, here is the official synopsis for Daybreakers:

In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.

I don’t know about you but I think the plot for Daybreakers sound awesome. And thankfully so does the teaser poster and the trailer. Check them both out below:

(click for larger)

[See post to watch Flash video]

Click here for HD version

I just love the way that the Daybreakers trailer is put together, as well as the general feel of it – very moody and dark but yet and still seems like a lot of fun (in the same way The Dark Knight was). The idea behind the movie is one of those that we’ve seen explored before in other vampire movies, but I really dig how this one clearly defines it: Humans are in the minority and vampires rule the world. As the trailer includes, the whole concept poses the idea that if the vampires continue to live off of human blood they will eventually eradicate the species, and in turn their own.

The Daybreakers poster is also very cool. However, is it just me or does it look startlingly similar to the poster designs for another vampire film, 30 Days of Night? If you can’t quite picture it, I’ve put the two movie’s posters side by side so you can decide for yourself how similar they are:

Great vampires apparently have more in common than just the need for blood.

I love genre movies that put a unique spin on what we’ve seen before, while introducing interesting ideas and raising questions along the way (The Canadian zombie film Ponytpool that I just saw recently also does this very effectively). I’d never really heard of Daybreakers before now, but it’s quickly made it’s way onto my most anticipated list.

Daybreakers is scheduled for a January 8th, 2010 release.

Sources: Collider and Yahoo

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Vampire Showdown: 30 Days of Night vs. The Twilight Saga

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:05:48 +0000

Talk about an odd couple: could you imagine 30 Days of Night writer Steve Niles ever sitting down to make nice with Stephenie Meyer, author of The Twilight Saga???

Well, apparently that scenario isn’t just my own skewed version of What The-?!; in a recent interview with MTV News, Niles talked about how his insatiably hungry vampires from the 30 Days of Night graphic novel stacked up against Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and the rest of The Cullen Family vamps from The Twilight Saga. Shockingly enough (at least to me), Niles had nothing but good things to say about Twilight:

Steve Niles

“It’s just a different way of looking at things…Everybody assumes that from watching ‘30 Days of Night’ that I hate Anne Rice and the whole notion of romantic vampires, but it’s actually just the opposite.”

Wow, after seeing 30 Days of Night and how relentless and vicious those vampires were, I wouldn’t ever have guessed that Steve Niles had a warm-spot for the soft-core, homo-erotic antics of Anne Rice’s vampires, let alone the kiddie-soft, interspecies chastity drama of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga. Guess what a friend told me is true: there IS something weird about all of us who are into “the whole vampire thing.”

Go figure…

However, bringing things back down to reality, here’s what Niles had to say when asked if the Twilight vamps could kick the crap out of his 30 Days of Night bloodsuckers:

“I don’t think so…But, they do have the advantage of being to go out in sunlight so they could beat them there. My vampires don’t care at all about seduction. It’s all about food to them.”

To be fair, the first Twilight movie didn’t reveal much about the vampire clans. From what I hear, that story is going to get a bit more explanation in the next Twilight film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Maybe we’ll learn that Edward Cullen is in fact a tough-undead-guy after all. I doubt it though.

The Cullen Family is ready for a fight (click for larger version).

What do you think: 30 Days of Night vampires vs. The Twilight Saga vampires. Who would suck the most in that fight?

Source: MTV News

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‘30 Days Of Night’ Sequel Going Straight-To-DVD?

Ross Miller — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:43:55 +0000

One of the more worthwhile vampire flicks of the last few years is 30 Days of Night, an adaptation of the bloody and violent comic mini-series by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith. Director David Slade (who will be directed the third Twilight movie, Eclipse) did an excellent job with it and I liked it when I saw it in theaters – but it improved for me on DVD. It’s not a fantastic film, but the vampire mythology they have in it, with the vampires having their own language amongst other things, was one of the coolest things to grace the big-screen back in 2007.

There have been rumors and whispers about a possible sequel going around ever since the first one came out, and those who are into their comics know there is not only a sequel in that form but various other stories even after that. Well, according to Niles not only is there going to be a movie sequel, but one has already been written – by he and Ben Ketai.

In an interview with MTV, Niles had this to say:

“There will be a sequel… The script is in. I’ve been working on it with a buddy of mine, Ben Ketai, who directed the last round of the online webisodes… The script is based on ‘Dark Days.”

Dark Days is the original follow up story, and it follows [Warning: Spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen 30 Days of Night]:

“…the character of Stella Olemaun heads to Los Angeles after surviving the vampire attack in Barrow, Alaska. She intentionally attracts the attention of the local vampire population in order to avenge the death of her husband, Eben, during the Barrow incident.”

However, this news may not be as exciting as you might think at first - the word is that the sequel will most likely go straight-to-DVD. The reason being mainly that the first didn’t make as much money as the filmmakers were hoping. Niles went on to say:

“We didn’t hit that magic $100 million, but I had a long talk with Sam [Raimi - producer]. He called me and just said, ‘Don’t be too quick to judge this direct-to-DVD market, especially with the sci-fi market.’”

“This way we’d be able to do all the comics… We won’t have the massive competition of the box office, and theoretically, we could move on to ‘Return to Barrow’ and to the other series and short stories.”

“Ghost House [Sam Raimi's horror production company] has a small industry going with just their direct-to-DVD movies for horror… It’s a changing market.”

Although I can kind of see where they’re coming from with their attraction to just releasing it on DVD, I still think going for a full theatrical release is the better option. With the exception of some of those small indie films that may not have enough financial backing to get a theatrical release, generally speaking, straight-to-DVD movies aren’t quality stuff. They advertise them as such, with their big name actors for example, but think about it; if the movie was any good why would they release it straight-to-DVD?

That’s not saying a straight-to-DVD Dark Days movie wouldn’t be good, but if it was then I don’t see why they would want to have it in the same straight-to-DVD category as those other ”crappy movies.” Don’t agree? Go into your local Blockbuster store and take a gander at the horror/sci-fi movies lining the “New Releases” shelf.

Some artwork from Dark Days

Even though 30 Days of Night didn’t hit “the magic $100 million,” as Niles points out, it was by no means a box-office failure. In fact, it did rather well for the type of film that it was. It cost approximately $32 million to make and made almost $100 million worldwide including DVD sales. Even with the cost of marketing and such, that is a pretty respectable financial outcome.

I haven’t read the comic series sequel Dark Days, but the plot description certainly sounds like a decent way to carry on the story, if they’re going to go down the route of following a human character as the central figure. If they weren’t going to base it explicitly on the original sequel, I would much rather see a prequel of some sort that showed the history of the fascinating vampire race we were introduced to in the first one.

They did it with Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, I don’t see why they couldn’t follow suit with this one…

I really hope they change their minds and decide to go for a full theatrical release with this sequel. If they change the name to something like “30 Days of Night: The Dark Days” then you’ve taken care of the name recognition problem (most people wouldn’t know, looking at just the title, that Dark Days had anything to do with 30 Days of Night), and I think most people will very much want to find out what happened after the events of the first one.

Do you think they’re should be a sequel made to 30 Days of Night and should it get a theatrical or a straight-to-DVD release?

Source: MTV Splash Page

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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: November 9, 2008

Niall Browne — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:49:29 +0000

It’s Sunday so that can only mean one thing – The Weekend Movie News Wrap Up!

This week:

John Landis robs with graves with Burke and Hare; Spielberg and Will Smith eye Oldboy; Tom Hanks doesn’t take The Road To Purgatory; we can expect another 30 Days of Night and Carpenter and Cage think that it’s a Riot that they are no longer Scared Straight. Also there is the usual Box Office break down.

Box Office

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa ruled the weekend with an estimated $60 million, beating its predecessor which managed to make $47 million back in 2005. Man, family movies are making so much money these days (like when have they never?).

The runner-up spot goes to Role Models starring Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd. The film was predicted to gross around $11 million over the weekend, but instead it should make somewhere between $17-19 million. Kevin Smith must be very angry! Speaking of Kevin Smith Zach and Miri Make A Porno banked another $6.5 million for a $20 million total.

Meanwhile the Zac Efron starring High School Musical 3: Senior Year managed to gross another $9 million bringing its total to $75 million. It looks like $100 million is definitely in range. Clint Eastwood’s Changeling should manage another $7-8 million, while Soul Men starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac tanked with a $6 million weekend. It looks like people are getting tired of seeing Jackson on the big screen. If the man likes working so much then I’m sure that there’s a TV series he could do.

Quantum of Solace now has a worldwide tally of $130 million after one week. The film is beating the opening of Casino Royale in most countries and although the reviews might not be as positive as Royale (except yours truly) the shorter running time should help the final gross be equal to if not better that film. Quantum of Solace opens in the US next weekend.

Movie News

1. Director John Landis will return to the big screen with Burke and Hare. The master of horror will direct the black comedy about the legendary grave robbers. The film should begin shooting this spring in Edinburgh, London and at Ealing Studios.

This material sounds perfect for Landis who helmed such goulish classics and An American Werewolf in London and …er… The Stupids.

Source: Variety

2. Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are “in early discussions” to direct and star in a remake of hit Korean film Oldboy.

According to Variety :

“In the 2003 Korean original, a man gets kidnapped and held in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. Suddenly, he’s released and given money, a cell phone and clothes and is set on a path to discover who destroyed his life so he can take revenge.”

The original is a pretty cool little film, with a very un-hollywood ending so it’ll be interesting to see if the “Kings of Sentimentality and Commercialism” will make any changes.

Source: Variety

3. A sequel is in the works to the 2002 Tom Hanks film Road to Perdition. The film was based on a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, and the story was continued in two sequel books; The Road to Paradise and The Road to Purgatory.

Collins will adapt and direct The Road to Purgatory, which according to Variety:

“will follow the character of Michael Sullivan Jr. — the son in “Perdition” — as he returns home from WWII and vows to avenge the murder of his father. He is ultimately led to Frank Nitti, whom he is urged to kill on the orders of Al Capone.”

The $20 million budgeted film will be independently produced as DreamWorks and Paramount passed on a sequel to the $100 million grossing film that also starred Paul Newman and Daniel Craig.

Hanks will not return.

Source: Variety

4. Another non superhero based comic book sequel is in the works. Vampire flick 30 Days of Night is getting a follow-up. The original starred Josh Hartnett as sheriff of an Alskan town which is descended upon by vampires.

Will Hartnett return? Maybe, the guy needs a hit.

Source: Shock Till You Drop

5. Back in August we told you about Scared Straight – the team-up of John Carpenter and Nicolas Cage. Well, the film has a new title, the less comical Riot and a new teaser poster.

Not a whole lot – but at least this film is moving ahead.

More when we get it.

Source: Coming Soon

That’s it for now. See you at he movies

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Review: 30 Days Of Night

Vic Holtreman — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 21:09:02 +0000

By Vic Holtreman

Short version: Kind of a cross between John Carpenter’s The Thing, zombies and vampires that while not really great, isn’t awful, either.

30 Days of Night is one of those movies that’s hard to assign a star rating to when reviewing it. There are some movies that I just don’t examine too closely because they’re basically just designed to provide a thrill. You could argue the point that this only deserves and I really wouldn’t argue with you about it too much. Also, you need to know that I have not read the graphic novel the movie was based on.

The film opens promisingly enough with a number of very cool shots: From closeups on the face of a man who looks like he’s been through hell to vistas of the desolate icy wilderness surrounding the little Alaskan town where the movie takes place. The Stranger (Ben Foster) has obviously come a very long way and heads out on foot towards the town of Barrow. Barrow is the northernmost town in Alaska and we arrive to see it’s final afternoon of sunshine before it is plunged into 30 full days of night.

Josh Hartnett plays Eben, the town sheriff. Although he looks like the in-control leading man, for some reason a decision was made to have him suffer from asthma. Why, I don’t know, and it seemed kind of odd to me especially when there doesn’t seem to be a reason for it. Maybe they just wanted to make him seem less than perfect… who know? Anyway, his wife Stella (Melissa George) has moved out and is trying to get out of town before the airport closes down for the month.

Meanwhile, a number of crimes are occuring in town, ranging from the robbery and destruction of a bunch of cell phones found burnt outside of town to the murder of sled dogs. The Stranger is the logical suspect and gets locked up after an altercation with the sheriff. Once he’s locked up he starts mumbling about how they’re all dead and other typical crazy-guy-who-knows-what’s-going-to-happen stuff.

Finally we get to see the vampires, and I’ll say they’re some creepy buggers. Moreso than I’ve seen in vampire movies in a while. They weren’t all pretty like in Underworld but they also weren’t over the top like in Blade III. I liked the fact that they walked around with the lower half of their faces drenched in blood – makes sense that a vampire wouldn’t take the time to tidy up after a meal. I also liked how zombie-like some of them seemed to be. They are after all, undead so I think it makes sense for them to share some of the traits of traditional zombies.

So I did like the look of the vampires, and I thought the ending was interesting (although I would have ignored the advice of my wife right at the end, I won’t spoil it for you). There were in fact a few pretty creepy moments in the film, and the scene with the big bearded guy literally tearing through the vampires in the middle of town was a hoot.

What didn’t I like? The lead vampires constant exposition: It was almost like he was turning towards the camera in a Ferris Bueller-like explanation of their philosophies of life. Very cheesy after a while. The cheap “jump scares” early on in the movie bugged me as well – that’s such a cheap way to make the audience jump: A loud noise and something leaping past the camera… BAM! Also, there’s a garbage-grinder sort of thing at the local power plant that they go way, WAY out of their way to show us. More than once even in case we missed it the first time. Hmm… I wonder if a vampire or two will end up being killed by that. Duh. Also, the fact that the vampires tore through almost the entire population of the town all at once. They’re going to be there for 30 days… you’d think they’d spread out their feeding a bit.

On the whole, the movie started out a heck of a lot more promising than it turned out to be. At first I thought it might turn out to be something really different, but by the end it was the usual “survivors get picked off one at a time” story. Sure, they did throw in a couple of little things that I liked, and that’s why I’m rating it as high as I did.

It wasn’t awful, and despite a few gory scenes probably makes for a good date movie and a little escapism.

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30 Days Of Night Sequel?

Vic Holtreman — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:58:20 +0000

My buds over at ReelzChannel emailed me to let me know that although 30 Days of Night hasn’t even opened yet (it comes out in a few days) there’s already talk of a sequel. Here’s a brief quote from an interview they’ll be releasing tomorrow with screenwriter Brian Nelson regarding the possibility of a sequel happening:

“I’ll just tantalizingly say it is possible you might see more of The Stranger [a main character in the film] in the future.”

Look for the full interview tomorrow on their site.

Source: ReelzChannel (Be warned, there are plot spoilers on that page)

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30 Days Of Night Photos

Vic Holtreman — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 00:15:03 +0000

There are 26 new images from the upcoming vampire flick 30 Days of Night over at ReelzChannel.com. Most of the interesting ones are too creepy for me to put here full size (this isn’t a horror site after all), but you can see them by clicking on the pic on the left or on the link at the end of this post.

I don’t know much about this movie beyond having seen the trailer, but it looks like it may be one of the better vampire movies to come along. It’s directed by David Slade, who is the same guy who did the incredibly stick-to-your-brain movie about an online predator meeting his match, Hard Candy.

30 Days of Night opens on October 19th.

Source: ReelzChannel.com

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Grab Bag ‘O News

Vic Holtreman — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 18:43:39 +0000

Sheesh, it’s easy to fall behind on this movie news stuff… miss a couple of days and there’s tons of new info out on all kinds of movies. So here’s a quick grab bag of news for ya…

Bill Shatner has no idea what’s going on with Star Trek 11. Are they sure they’re going to put him in it? TrekWeb

This was a big week for new trailers. There’s a new poster and trailer out for the next Will Smith Sci Fi flick I Am Legend. Gut reaction? Looks like it’s going to be a good one. Apple.com

A trailer for the Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake titled simply The Invasion, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. I could be wrong but to me this looks like one of those well made trailers for a movie that isn’t so great. FirstShowing.net

And yet another trailer, this one for the horror flick 30 Days of Night, of which I know absolutely nothing about. Didn’t really like the trailer much… the music at the end didn’t suit it. Some advice: go rent John Carpenter’s version of The Thing instead. IGN.com

The longest running Iron Man fan site has relaunched with a cool new look worthy of the upcoming movie. Jon Favreau even commented about it over at his myspace group. The site includes an armory, movie news, an active forum and more. Advanced Iron – Iron Man

Speaking of websites, the official Speed Racer website is up. Pretty car. Warner Brothers

Aliens vs Predator 2 (AVP2) will supposedly be scarier than the first. I don’t know… the first one was so awful it was scary. Then again different folks are working on this one, so who knows? Cinematical

Indy 4: Sean Connery is out and John Hurt is in. The buzz is that Connery backing out is a reflection on the poor quality of the script. Cinematical (again)

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