We’ve just received the final poster for the Vikings vs. Aliens movie: Outlander.

Interestingly there do not appear to be either Vikings nor Aliens in the poster below. There is however a giant floating head shot of Jim Caviezel hovering above Earth.

Quite appropriate for a guy who played Jesus Christ, I suppose.

I won’t go into the whole history of the film or its story, you can read our previous Outlander movie coverage for that.

Outlander is finally scheduled to open (limited) on January 23rd.

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Here’s what looks to be a cool movie that’s been slowly crawling and scraping its way towards release literally for years, now. You may have heard of it (since we’ve mentioned it here before) – it’s called Outlander and it has the sweet little concept of pitting Vikings against aliens.

You’re looking at an exclusive new pic from the movie above, which shows a monster (called a MOORWEN in the film) assaulting a Viking village. A priest has stepped forward in a what will soon be a strikingly unsuccessful attempt to stop it. The light comes from the creature itself, which is bioluminescent. (Thanks to writer/executive producer of the film, Dirk Blackman)

We posted a few weeks ago that Outlander was finally getting a theatrical U.S. release date and we have an update for you. It’s going to have a limited release on January 23rd in the following cities:

• San Francisco, CA
• Chicago, IL
• Philadelphia, PA
• Washington D.C.
• Dallas, TX
• Atlanta, GA
• Boston, MA
• Houston, TX
• Seattle, WA
• Miami, FL
• San Diego, CA
• Detroit, MI
• Sacramento, CA
• Orlando, FL
• Tampa, FL

The hope is that it will get a wider distribution, but there’s no guarantee of that since the distributor, The Weinstein Co. is strapped for cash.

As a bonus, here are some more stills from the film:

Yes, that’s really James Caviezel

The lovely Sophia Miles

Jack Huston as the hero for the younger demographic

Even the great John Hurt is in Outlander

You’ve got your Viking ships…

and your alien ships… SWEET!

If this movie doesn’t end up getting a wide distribution at the very least I’ll be picking up a copy on DVD or preferably, Blu-ray.

For more info and images from the film visit the official Outlander website.

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Back in August we told you about a funky genre film that was having trouble making it into U.S. theaters. It’s a movie that pits Vikings against aliens. Seriously.

Oh, but wait… it actually looks good (and by “good” I mean enjoy it for what it is, a pure cool concept action/sci-fi film, not an Oscar contender). What’s this little gem called?

Outlander

At the time there was some confusion as the DVD had been made available for pre-order on some website even though the film hadn’t been released yet. On the official Outlander blog the DVD screw up was addressed, but there was still no hint of a release date.

Fast forward to a few days ago, when rumors of a January 23, 2009 release date started surfacing. At first the word was that would be the date for the Canadian release, but now it’s looking like it’s the date we’ll get to see it in the U.S.

The Weinstein Company (which is distributing the film) has set up a page for it on their site, where they announce that as the official release date. Now the question is: How wide of a release will Outlander get? Will it make it onto a decent number of screens or will it be “buried” with no marketing and a sub-100 theater release?

The folks who run the official blog (it’s not clear who exactly that is… the writers? Director?) are worried the film won’t get wide distribution and not many people will have the chance to see it. I’ve heard that it cost $50MM to make and that’s not exactly a low budget film. It’s had a very limited release overseas and has brought in about $2.9 million at the box office (mainly in Spain where it’s been open for two weeks) with very little marketing.

It also has some recognizable names in the cast including James Caviezel, Ron Perlman and John Hurt. For the babe factor there’s Sophia Myles. Outlander was directed by Howard McCain and written by the director and Dirk Blackman. They are also co-writing the screenplay for the upcoming Conan movie and wrote the script for the soon to open Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.

Here’s the poster:

You can check out two trailers for Outlander here.

Source: io9

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There’s a movie that hasn’t been getting a whole lot of buzz despite fitting into the sort of niche that we movie site guys love to talk about. All we’ve done is one Weekend Movie News Wrap-Up post where we showed you the poster for… Outlander.

What is Outlander about? As the title of this post says – it pits Vikings against a giant alien.

Seriously.

Tell me this description doesn’t make you want to go see it:

“As an age old battle rages amongst the stars, Kainan’s ship burns brightly as it crashes into the Nordic coast. As his space craft comes to rest in the fjords of ancient Norway, it’s with dismay that Kainan realizes that he wasn’t the only survivor. A second passenger, a Moorwen also emerges from the wreckage. A Fierce and animal-like creature, the Moorwen is intent on causing harm to those it perceives have wronged it. As the Moorwen kills everything in its path, Kainan must work together with the Vikings to destroy the beast before it destroys them all.”

Sound like cheesy fun? It does to me. But wait… there’s more.

Stars appearing in the film include James Caviezel, Ron Perlman and John Hurt!

Dread Central had reported five days ago that although the film was previously slated for a theatrical release, Movies Unlimited made the DVD available for pre-order on Amazon.com for delivery on November 18th. Now obviously with no release date yet announced for the big screen, that left pretty much no time at all for a theatrical release, although supposedly contractually the film HAD to have a theatrical release.

I suppose the Weinsteins (who control the film) could pull a “Midnight Meat Train” and release it in 100 theaters or less, and then shoot it off to DVD land.

Ah, but according to the official Outlander site:

“Dirk Blackman, Producer and Co-writer of Outlander has been looking into the DVD date issue and has informed us that yes the DVD date is completely erroneous. The Weinstein Company has stated that there is absolutely *NO* official DVD Release date and are infact going to be contacting Amazon and Movies Unlimited to hopefull have the listing either taken down or altered. So all you fans out theere that want to see this movie in wide release please do not put on a defeatist attitude. Let people know you want to see it happen. There’s still hope.”

Outlander has generated a fair amount of passion in the hearts of those who have seen it or are familiar with the production. A month ago Moriarity of AICN made a plea for theatrical release and gave a heck of a lot of background about the film.

Apparently it cost close to $50 million and that’s not chump change. Here again is the poster, followed by a couple of trailers for your viewing enjoyment.

Here’s the international trailer


[See post to watch Flash video]

And the US trailer


[See post to watch Flash video]

So what do you think? A whole lot of huffing and puffing over nothing? Or a film that deserves a shot at the big screen?

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The weeks are really flyng by – it seems like only yesterday that I wrote the last Movie News Wrap Up, and here I am, coffee in hand, preparing this new edition.

This week we look at: The Fox 2000 remake of Brian DePalma’s The Fury, Stephen King’s Dolan’s Cadillac, Seven Pounds with Will Smith, Sci-Fi Viking film Outlander and Eli Roth decides to make movies for children.

To find out more – keep reading.

1. The remake machine rumbles on as Fox 2000 plan an updating of Brian DePalma’s Kirk Douglas starrer The Fury. The film will be written by Brian McGreevy and Lee Shipman. Variety

“(The film) will center on a young man with heightened kinetic powers who is abducted by the government in order to take advantage of his special gifts.”

The original film was released in 1978, and it was based on the 1976 book by John Farris. I wonder what percentage of films made by Hollywood today are remakes?

2. Former “Next Big Thing” ’s Christian Slater and Wes Bentley will star in Dolan’s Cadillac. The Hollywood Reporter

“(The film) is a thriller about a man (Bentley), who plots to avenge the murder of his wife by notorious and untouchable Las Vegas mob boss Jimmy Dolan (Slater).”

Dolan’s Cadillac is based on the short story by Stephen King. What an amazing and original idea – adapting the work of Stephen King for the big screen. I’m amazed that people don’t do this more often.

That was sarcasm… in case you didn’t get it.

3. Tom Cruise’s 13-year old son will play the young Will Smith in Seven Pounds. The Hollywood Reporter

Yes, you did read that correctly.

“The drama follows the story of a man who affects the lives of seven strangers.”

Only in Hollywood.

4. The poster for Outlander has been released and…it looks pretty damn cool. imdb.com and impawards.com

The film stars Jim Caviezel and it has an interesting plot, IMDB states:

“During the reign of the Vikings, Kainan (Caviezel), a man from a far-off world, crash lands on Earth, bringing with him an alien predator known as the Moorwen. Though both man and monster are seeking revenge for violence committed against them, Kainan leads the alliance to kill the Moorwen by fusing his advanced technology with the Viking’s Iron Age weaponry”

Pretty cool, huh?

5. Eli Roth, director of “torture porn” flicks Hostel and err… Hostel II will go family friendly with his next film. Reuters

Roth says:

[It] will be my first big-budget, PG-13, mass-destruction movie. I want total chaos and pandemonium.”

The film is said to be “inspired by” Transformers and Cloverfield.

Roth also stated that:

“I feel like I pushed the violence in R movies about as far as I can push it. I feel like I’m bled out. I wanna switch it up.”

God knows what that means, but we’re safe for a while… he hasn’t completed the script yet.

A big announcement is due next month.

That’s it for another week.

See you at the movies!

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