Stars: Johnny Rey Diaz, Christina Licciardi, Lindsay Sawyer, Talia A Davis, Trae Ireland, Isaac Reyes, Fiona Rene, Joseph Michael Harris, Nick Principe, Aaron Moses, Randall Yarbrough | Written and Directed by Jeremy M. Inman
To be fair, you know what you’re in for with any Asylum movie that is homaging a bigger-budget Hollywood flick… After all it’s become de rigueur for David Michael Latt and co. to produce what have been affectionately dubbed “mockbusters” for all the big Summer blockbusters: films such as Transmorphers, American Battleship, The Terminators, Almighty Thor, Battle of Los Angeles, and Avengers Grimm. But watching a mockbuster from The Asylum doesn’t neccesarily mean audiences are in for a terrible time, there are often sparks of genius within their films – be it some great casting or an inspired plot.
Case in point: the aforementioned Avengers Grimm, which used the Avengers film format to tell a...
To be fair, you know what you’re in for with any Asylum movie that is homaging a bigger-budget Hollywood flick… After all it’s become de rigueur for David Michael Latt and co. to produce what have been affectionately dubbed “mockbusters” for all the big Summer blockbusters: films such as Transmorphers, American Battleship, The Terminators, Almighty Thor, Battle of Los Angeles, and Avengers Grimm. But watching a mockbuster from The Asylum doesn’t neccesarily mean audiences are in for a terrible time, there are often sparks of genius within their films – be it some great casting or an inspired plot.
Case in point: the aforementioned Avengers Grimm, which used the Avengers film format to tell a...
- 10/10/2016
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Combining Sharknado, Sharknado 2: The Second One, and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! – Sharknado: The Collection is a 3-disc boxset filled with shark-infested splatter-fest action! With the set due for release on May 2nd, here’s our review of all three Sharknado movies…
Sharknado
Stars: Ian Ziering, Jaason Simmons, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, John Heard, Alex Arleo, Neil H. Berkow, Heather Jocelyn Blair | Written by Thunder Levin | Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante
When a freak tornado swamps Los Angeles, thousands of man-eating sharks are sucked into the swirling vortex, terrorizing the waterlogged populace and flooding the city with shark-infested seawater. Surfer and bar-owner Fin (Ziering) sets out with his friends Baz (Simmons) and Nova (Scerbo) to rescue his estranged wife April (Reid) and teenage daughter Claudia from the sharks raining down from the skies. With nature’s deadliest killer ruling sea, land, and air, they soon realise that...
Sharknado
Stars: Ian Ziering, Jaason Simmons, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, John Heard, Alex Arleo, Neil H. Berkow, Heather Jocelyn Blair | Written by Thunder Levin | Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante
When a freak tornado swamps Los Angeles, thousands of man-eating sharks are sucked into the swirling vortex, terrorizing the waterlogged populace and flooding the city with shark-infested seawater. Surfer and bar-owner Fin (Ziering) sets out with his friends Baz (Simmons) and Nova (Scerbo) to rescue his estranged wife April (Reid) and teenage daughter Claudia from the sharks raining down from the skies. With nature’s deadliest killer ruling sea, land, and air, they soon realise that...
- 4/28/2016
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Birthday shoutouts go to Kevin Alejandro (above), who is 38, Russell Crowe is 50, John Oates is 65, and Jackie Chan is 60.
Our thoughts are with the family and generations of fans of screen legend Mickey Rooney, who died today at the age of 93. He’ll always be the one true Fallout Boy to me.
In more sad news, model and ally Peaches Geldof has died at the age of 25.
Supreme Court won’t hear anti-gay photographer case. Nom heads just exploded.
I Was Broken, and Matt Bomer Put Me Back Together. Is there anything he can’t do?
As I’m sure you’ll agree, The Asylum is one of the great production companies in Hollywood. They’re responsible for most of the iconic Syfy Channel movies, including Sharknado, Almighty Thor, Nazis At The Center Of The Earth, American Warships, Atlantic Rim, Titanic II, and of course, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (to name just a few.
Our thoughts are with the family and generations of fans of screen legend Mickey Rooney, who died today at the age of 93. He’ll always be the one true Fallout Boy to me.
In more sad news, model and ally Peaches Geldof has died at the age of 25.
Supreme Court won’t hear anti-gay photographer case. Nom heads just exploded.
I Was Broken, and Matt Bomer Put Me Back Together. Is there anything he can’t do?
As I’m sure you’ll agree, The Asylum is one of the great production companies in Hollywood. They’re responsible for most of the iconic Syfy Channel movies, including Sharknado, Almighty Thor, Nazis At The Center Of The Earth, American Warships, Atlantic Rim, Titanic II, and of course, Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (to name just a few.
- 4/7/2014
- by snicks
- The Backlot
Stars: Ian Ziering, Jaason Simmons, Tara Reid, Cassie Scerbo, John Heard, Alex Arleo, Neil H. Berkow, Heather Jocelyn Blair | Written by Thunder Levin | Directed by Anthony C. Ferrante
When a freak tornado swamps Los Angeles, thousands of man-eating sharks are sucked into the swirling vortex, terrorizing the waterlogged populace and flooding the city with shark-infested seawater. Surfer and bar-owner Fin (Ziering) sets out with his friends Baz (Simmons) and Nova (Scerbo) to rescue his estranged wife April (Reid) and teenage daughter Claudia from the sharks raining down from the skies. With nature’s deadliest killer ruling sea, land, and air, they soon realise that the best chance they have to survive the deadly shark-infested maelstrom is to find a way to destroy it themselves.
What can I say about Sharknado that hasn’t already been said? A film that caused a social media furore on its Syfy channel debut, this...
When a freak tornado swamps Los Angeles, thousands of man-eating sharks are sucked into the swirling vortex, terrorizing the waterlogged populace and flooding the city with shark-infested seawater. Surfer and bar-owner Fin (Ziering) sets out with his friends Baz (Simmons) and Nova (Scerbo) to rescue his estranged wife April (Reid) and teenage daughter Claudia from the sharks raining down from the skies. With nature’s deadliest killer ruling sea, land, and air, they soon realise that the best chance they have to survive the deadly shark-infested maelstrom is to find a way to destroy it themselves.
What can I say about Sharknado that hasn’t already been said? A film that caused a social media furore on its Syfy channel debut, this...
- 9/22/2013
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Tara Reid starring in an Asylum movie about a tornado filled with hungry sharks? Why am I not surprised? Read on to find out which stars of “Beverly Hills 90210” and the cult classic C.H.U.D. will be joining her when Sharknado touches down later this year.
Written by Thunder Levin (American Warships, Ae Apocalypse Earth) and helmed by Anthony C. Ferrante, director of The Asylum’s “pretty damned good horror movie” Hansel & Gretel, “The Jaws After Tomorrow,” aka Sharknado, sees Los Angeles devastated by a monster hurricane that leaves the streets flooded with shark-infested waters leading to the inevitable moment when a tornado sucks up the sharks, producing the world’s first man-eating F5 tornado.
Tara Reid of American Pie, The Big Lebowski, and considerable tabloid fame (at least until Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes stole all the headlines) leads the charge against this unholy predatory twister threatening the City of Angels.
Written by Thunder Levin (American Warships, Ae Apocalypse Earth) and helmed by Anthony C. Ferrante, director of The Asylum’s “pretty damned good horror movie” Hansel & Gretel, “The Jaws After Tomorrow,” aka Sharknado, sees Los Angeles devastated by a monster hurricane that leaves the streets flooded with shark-infested waters leading to the inevitable moment when a tornado sucks up the sharks, producing the world’s first man-eating F5 tornado.
Tara Reid of American Pie, The Big Lebowski, and considerable tabloid fame (at least until Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes stole all the headlines) leads the charge against this unholy predatory twister threatening the City of Angels.
- 4/19/2013
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
It was last summer when I interviewed Asylum filmmaker Thunder Levin before the release of his litigious and surprisingly superior Battleship mockbuster American Warships.
He dropped me a line to update me on his two new Asylum offerings, Apocalypse Earth and the current buzz of b-cinema - Sharknado!
Word of Sharknado quickly spread like wildfire when The Asylum announced the film at Afm last year. So how does one bring unlikely combination of sharks and tornadoes together into one ultimate hybrid of nature gone amok and disaster flicks? According to Thunder Levin’s script, an unprepared Los Angeles is hit with a monster hurricane that cripples the city with flood waters – flood waters filled with man-eating sharks! The grand finale sees the sharks getting swept up into a tornado that destroys and devours anything in its path.
Levin says of this most outlandish premise even by Asylum standards, “The script...
He dropped me a line to update me on his two new Asylum offerings, Apocalypse Earth and the current buzz of b-cinema - Sharknado!
Word of Sharknado quickly spread like wildfire when The Asylum announced the film at Afm last year. So how does one bring unlikely combination of sharks and tornadoes together into one ultimate hybrid of nature gone amok and disaster flicks? According to Thunder Levin’s script, an unprepared Los Angeles is hit with a monster hurricane that cripples the city with flood waters – flood waters filled with man-eating sharks! The grand finale sees the sharks getting swept up into a tornado that destroys and devours anything in its path.
Levin says of this most outlandish premise even by Asylum standards, “The script...
- 3/7/2013
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
Ah, The Asylum. The “mockbuster” experts have had some legal troubles recently. Back in the spring of 2012, after Universal filed suit over American Battleship, the company changed the name to American Warships. Last month, in response to legal pressure from Warner Bros., The Asylum changed the name of Age of the Hobbits to Clash of the Empires.
No such worries with Hansel & Gretel, not to be confused with Paramount’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, hitting theaters nationwide on January 25th. The Asylum version goes light on the witch hunting though.
Read more...
No such worries with Hansel & Gretel, not to be confused with Paramount’s Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, hitting theaters nationwide on January 25th. The Asylum version goes light on the witch hunting though.
Read more...
- 1/7/2013
- shocktillyoudrop.com
If you've ever been walking down the movie aisle of a store and been confused as to why there were movies like Transmorphers, Paranormal Entity, or Titanic II on the shelves, the answer is The Asylum. It's a production company that specializes in so-called "mockbusters", straight to dvd rip-offs of major blockbuster films. Many wondered exactly how they could get away with it, but it turns out that now they aren't. They were forced to rename American Battleship, and now they are no longer allowed to call their newest film Age of the Hobbits.
- 12/12/2012
- by David Hoffman
- GetTheBigPicture.net
After getting away with a smattering of low budget knock-offs of major blockbusters over the past few years, Hollywood is finally starting to get wise to The Asylum's game. Earlier this year, Universal filed a lawsuit to have them rename their Battleship rip-off from American Battleship to American Warships. Now this week Warner Brothers has successfully stopped The Asylum from putting their new movie Age of the Hobbits on store shelves this week due to possible customer confusion. Strangely, after watching the trailer for Age of the Hobbits, I have no clue how the movie is in any way connected to J.R.R. Tolkien's work. Apparently they are claiming that the movie is actually about a real-life subspecies of humans from Indonesia known as Homo Floresiensis, which were nicknamed "hobbit" due to their diminutive size. The courts didn't work... and to be honest, it all feels a bit racist anyway.
- 12/11/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Curiously enough, even before the recent court ruling suspending the release of The Asylum's latest mockbuster, Age of the Hobbits, Redbox’s website has a listing for the film, slating it for Redbox rental on December 31st.
The “Coming Soon” listing shows the exact same artwork but with the title Clash of the Empires in lieu of Age of the Hobbits. Presumably, that Redbox release with the alternate title will also scrapped due to the court injunction, but as of the time I am writing this, Clash of the Empires is still being listed on Redbox’s website.
Age of the Hobbits (review) may not be the only mockbuster affected by the Warner Brothers lawsuit. The Asylum had just recently announced Jack the Giant Killer starring Jane March and Ben Cross slated for DVD/Blu-ray release on March 12th, around the same time as Bryan Singer’s big budget Jack...
The “Coming Soon” listing shows the exact same artwork but with the title Clash of the Empires in lieu of Age of the Hobbits. Presumably, that Redbox release with the alternate title will also scrapped due to the court injunction, but as of the time I am writing this, Clash of the Empires is still being listed on Redbox’s website.
Age of the Hobbits (review) may not be the only mockbuster affected by the Warner Brothers lawsuit. The Asylum had just recently announced Jack the Giant Killer starring Jane March and Ben Cross slated for DVD/Blu-ray release on March 12th, around the same time as Bryan Singer’s big budget Jack...
- 12/11/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
One hobbit will rule them all—for now, at least. A California federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring the release of Age of the Hobbits, a low-budget straight-to-video release from an independent film production company called The Asylum that was slated for release on Tuesday, just days before the opening of director Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Warner Bros., New Line, MGM, and Hobbit producer Saul Zaentz filed suit against The Asylum last month, charging that the company was trying to infringe on its copyrights and confuse consumers with its film.
In response, The...
In response, The...
- 12/11/2012
- by Josh Rottenberg
- EW - Inside Movies
A Planet Fury-approved selection of notable genre releases for November.
Rites of Spring (2011) Mpi Home Video DVD Available Now
After abducting the daughter of a wealthy socialite, a group of kidnappers seek refuge in an abandoned school in the middle of a wooded nowhere. Little do they know that they’ve chosen the hunting grounds of a ravenous creature that can only be sated by ritualistic sacrifices every spring. Writer/director Padraig Reynolds’ crime thriller/slasher hybrid received mixed reviews during its short festival run, but it’s a solidly crafted piece with some good performances and impressive cinematography by Carl Herse. The one-sheet art is a thing of beauty.
Heaven’s Gate (1981) Criterion Blu-ray and DVD Available Now
Michael Cimino’s critically panned revisionist western has slowly gained a reputation as an overlooked gem. While it’s no masterpiece, his director’s cut is far better than the confusing...
Rites of Spring (2011) Mpi Home Video DVD Available Now
After abducting the daughter of a wealthy socialite, a group of kidnappers seek refuge in an abandoned school in the middle of a wooded nowhere. Little do they know that they’ve chosen the hunting grounds of a ravenous creature that can only be sated by ritualistic sacrifices every spring. Writer/director Padraig Reynolds’ crime thriller/slasher hybrid received mixed reviews during its short festival run, but it’s a solidly crafted piece with some good performances and impressive cinematography by Carl Herse. The one-sheet art is a thing of beauty.
Heaven’s Gate (1981) Criterion Blu-ray and DVD Available Now
Michael Cimino’s critically panned revisionist western has slowly gained a reputation as an overlooked gem. While it’s no masterpiece, his director’s cut is far better than the confusing...
- 11/28/2012
- by Bradley Harding
- Planet Fury
The tagline on the artwork The Asylum is using to promote its newest movie at the American Film Market simply states, “Enough Said!” When your movie is a disaster flick meets nature gone amok flick called Sharknado, what more needs to be said?
The annual Afm is where film companies promote, distribute, and seek funding for all manner of motion pictures. The Asylum is one of those companies, and Styd snagged a photo of the artwork they have on display promoting a movie entitled Sharknado.
Nothing more is known about the movie that will come to be known to the world as Sharknado other than it was apparently written by Thunder Levin, the writer-director of The Asylum’s American Warships, the Battleship mockbuster that was actually superior to its big screen counterpart.
So what to make of Sharknado? Well, we know tornadoes are known to pick up fish and drop them onto land.
The annual Afm is where film companies promote, distribute, and seek funding for all manner of motion pictures. The Asylum is one of those companies, and Styd snagged a photo of the artwork they have on display promoting a movie entitled Sharknado.
Nothing more is known about the movie that will come to be known to the world as Sharknado other than it was apparently written by Thunder Levin, the writer-director of The Asylum’s American Warships, the Battleship mockbuster that was actually superior to its big screen counterpart.
So what to make of Sharknado? Well, we know tornadoes are known to pick up fish and drop them onto land.
- 11/2/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
Danny Trejo battles zombies! Bai Ling saves Hobbits! Monica Keena builds an ark! Dee Wallace eats Hansel & Gretel. The antichrist is born... again! It can only mean The Asylum has new trailers for its next five releases!
Get your first look at Rise of the Zombies, Age of the Hobbits, 40 Days and Nights, Hansel & Gretel, and 12/12/12 below.
Enjoy Thanksgiving because it will probably be our last, at least if anything visualized in the preview for 40 Days and Nights comes to fruition circa November 27th when the film washes ashore via DVD/VOD.
When a colossal tectonic shift causes the sea level to start rising, a microbiologist (Monica Keena, Freddy vs. Jason) gathers the DNA of as many species as she can, while the military creates an "ark" in a desperate attempt to preserve life on Earth.
Judging by the trailer, this variation of the story of Noah’s Ark owes...
Get your first look at Rise of the Zombies, Age of the Hobbits, 40 Days and Nights, Hansel & Gretel, and 12/12/12 below.
Enjoy Thanksgiving because it will probably be our last, at least if anything visualized in the preview for 40 Days and Nights comes to fruition circa November 27th when the film washes ashore via DVD/VOD.
When a colossal tectonic shift causes the sea level to start rising, a microbiologist (Monica Keena, Freddy vs. Jason) gathers the DNA of as many species as she can, while the military creates an "ark" in a desperate attempt to preserve life on Earth.
Judging by the trailer, this variation of the story of Noah’s Ark owes...
- 10/16/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
It looks like Hollywood is finally starting to take a stand against the low budget knock-offs and copycats that have been creating confusion on store shelves over the past couple of years. After Universal successfully forced The Asylum to change the name of their Battleship clone American Battleship to American Warships earlier this year, Disney has decided to throw their weight around as well, threatening to sue the makers of a film called Braver. British indie production company Brightspark Production Ltd. has been following in The Asylum's footsteps by putting out budget animated films in the U.K. that sound very similar to Pixar and DreamWorks films (ie. Tangled Up, Puss N Boots, Little Cars), but this time they have finally gone too far, forcing Disney to step in and protect the upcoming release of Brave on DVD and Blu-ray. According to The Guardian, the Mouse House has sent a...
- 9/12/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
British production company Brightspark's attempt to confuse careless movie buyers with a DVD called Braver isn't sitting well with Disney, the studio behind Brave. Disney's lawyers are threatening legal action against Brightspark, which denies any wrongdoing, even though, as Bleeding Cool points out, Braver was first released in 2005 and called Fairy Tale Christmas and has now been repackaged with art that mimics that of the Pixar film. Brightspark is the second knockoff movie house to incur the wrath of a big time Hollywood studio in recent months. In May Universal hit Asylum, an old pro at the copycat game, with a lawsuit over American Battleship, its low-budget Navy vs. aliens flick starring Carl Weathers and Mario Van Peebles. ...
- 9/12/2012
- by Adam K. Raymond
- Vulture
With the passing of Labor Day, I can say that the summer movie season of 2012 has come and gone. Now comes the time to examine what this summer season meant to us, the movie lovers, and to Hollywood, the ones that profited (or not) from the films.
For this endeavor I don’t want to look too closely at the creative stamp of a movie as judging whether a movie is good or bad for you is subjective and entirely personal. Instead, I want to cast a stronger eye towards the box office results and try to augur what it means for us. Will we see a sequel, or has a profitable movie made enough of a dent in the zeitgeist that we’ll get to see a bunch of copycats in two years time? That’s the sort of thing that I’m interested in with my analysis.
So where do we begin?...
For this endeavor I don’t want to look too closely at the creative stamp of a movie as judging whether a movie is good or bad for you is subjective and entirely personal. Instead, I want to cast a stronger eye towards the box office results and try to augur what it means for us. Will we see a sequel, or has a profitable movie made enough of a dent in the zeitgeist that we’ll get to see a bunch of copycats in two years time? That’s the sort of thing that I’m interested in with my analysis.
So where do we begin?...
- 9/6/2012
- by Patrick Sauriol
- Corona's Coming Attractions
As someone who lives in San Diego, I've been curious about the reaction of the real Whaley House toward The Asylum's recently released The Haunting of Whaley House, and let's just say it's not good.
San Diego City Beat did a little digging and learned the following:
The basic plot of the Whaley House [film] follows a group of teens who sneak into the titular house and get murdered, one-by-one, by the vengeful ghost of Thomas Whaley and the other spirit of Whaley lore, Yankee Jim. As the body count rises, so does the tension—hence this amazing line of dialogue: “This house is haunted as fuck,” which is said not once, but twice in the movie. (Other great lines include: “Now they’re fucking possessing us! I’ve had it with this shit!” and the simple-but-effective “Fuck you, ghost!”)
You don’t need to go on the educational, non-haunted-as-fuck tour...
San Diego City Beat did a little digging and learned the following:
The basic plot of the Whaley House [film] follows a group of teens who sneak into the titular house and get murdered, one-by-one, by the vengeful ghost of Thomas Whaley and the other spirit of Whaley lore, Yankee Jim. As the body count rises, so does the tension—hence this amazing line of dialogue: “This house is haunted as fuck,” which is said not once, but twice in the movie. (Other great lines include: “Now they’re fucking possessing us! I’ve had it with this shit!” and the simple-but-effective “Fuck you, ghost!”)
You don’t need to go on the educational, non-haunted-as-fuck tour...
- 8/10/2012
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
Piggybacking off the domestic box office disaster Battleship as much as they can, The Asylum released their low-budget knock-off entitled American Warships. Leave it to these mockbuster makers to swoop in on the dead carcass and pick off all the flesh left on the bone after the brutal slaying it suffered. The original title of the film was American Battleship until Universal Pictures intervened demanding a name-change among other things. The Asylum did what they had to do to get the finished product released and told the studio they "appreciate the publicity."
American Warships begins when a mysterious attack is launched by undetectable ships off the coast of civilization. The U.S.S. Ohio and its crew are brought out of retirement to find out who's responsible for the attacks before the different countries of the world begin World War III. They soon discover that the unknown force is alien.
American Warships begins when a mysterious attack is launched by undetectable ships off the coast of civilization. The U.S.S. Ohio and its crew are brought out of retirement to find out who's responsible for the attacks before the different countries of the world begin World War III. They soon discover that the unknown force is alien.
- 7/12/2012
- by feeds@themoviepool.com (Eric Shirey)
- Cinelinx
We knew this day would come. After years of mockbusters and even a few really good flicks thrown in here and there, The Asylum is Officially invading the San Diego Comic-Con. Call your loved ones! Consult the Mayans! Doomsday is upon us!
From the Press Release
Horror film mavens and genre enthusiasts will find no safe haven at Comic-Con International 2012, as independent production and distribution studio The Asylum announced today that they will be joining their fellow fanboys at this year’s San Diego convention. In celebration of their 15th anniversary, The Asylum will be bringing in talent from some of the studio’s most popular action, fantasy, thriller and monster movies for signings, including scream queen Lynn Lowry; Zombie Apocalypse stars Lilan Bowden and Johnny Pacar; and the twisted minds behind The Asylum: David Michael Latt, David Rimawi, and Paul Bales.
You can also enter to win your very own Crovel,...
From the Press Release
Horror film mavens and genre enthusiasts will find no safe haven at Comic-Con International 2012, as independent production and distribution studio The Asylum announced today that they will be joining their fellow fanboys at this year’s San Diego convention. In celebration of their 15th anniversary, The Asylum will be bringing in talent from some of the studio’s most popular action, fantasy, thriller and monster movies for signings, including scream queen Lynn Lowry; Zombie Apocalypse stars Lilan Bowden and Johnny Pacar; and the twisted minds behind The Asylum: David Michael Latt, David Rimawi, and Paul Bales.
You can also enter to win your very own Crovel,...
- 7/9/2012
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
A couple of months ago, we first learned that a Raging Bull sequel / prequel was in the works without the involvement of Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro or any of the original creative team. Based on the book Raging Bull II: Continuing the Story of Jake Lamotta, it was set to star Mojean Aria (pictured above) and William Forsythe as the younger and older Jake Lamotta respectively. Although many fans have expressed disdain for the project, it seemed legit in the sense that La Motta himself co-wrote the book and was now involved in the making of the film. Unfortunately for him, MGM is now stepping into the ring in an attempt to put a stop to the project, which is currently already in production in Los Angeles. According to Deadline, MGM has filed a lawsuit against Rb II Productions alleging that they own the movie rights to Lamotta's memoir...
- 7/5/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Another week, another Monday. So it’s time for the rundown of DVDs and Blu-ray’s hitting stores online and offline this week. It’s another packed week, with plenty of movies waiting to take you money, so let us breakdown the new releases and highlight what you should – and shouldn’t – be buying from today, July 2nd 2012.
Pick(S) Of The Week
South Park: Season 15 Box Set (DVD)
All fourteen episodes from South Park’s landmark 15th season are loaded into this exclusive three-disc set. Join Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman as they bro down on Broadway, become one with the HumancentiPad, and take on the evil email-hacking WikiLeaks. Serve that with a side of royal pudding and some never-before-seen deleted scenes, and you’ve got a collection that will leave your wormhole tingling. Awkwaaarrdd! South Park: Season 15 Review
Project X (DVD/Blu-ray)
Project X follows three...
Pick(S) Of The Week
South Park: Season 15 Box Set (DVD)
All fourteen episodes from South Park’s landmark 15th season are loaded into this exclusive three-disc set. Join Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman as they bro down on Broadway, become one with the HumancentiPad, and take on the evil email-hacking WikiLeaks. Serve that with a side of royal pudding and some never-before-seen deleted scenes, and you’ve got a collection that will leave your wormhole tingling. Awkwaaarrdd! South Park: Season 15 Review
Project X (DVD/Blu-ray)
Project X follows three...
- 7/2/2012
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Universal has settled a lawsuit over an unauthorized knockoff of its big-budget adventure movie Battleship. The Asylum, producer of a low-budget rip-off called American Battleship, has agreed to change the name of the film to American Warships and alter its marketing and packaging in exchange for Universal dropping the lawsuit. The Asylum is somewhat notorious among Hollywood lawyers. It produces cheapo versions of big studio movies and distributes them via DVD, VOD and TV around the same time their "inspiration" films are being heavily marketed. Past titles include Transmorphers and Almighty Thor. Back in 2008, Fox
read more...
read more...
- 5/31/2012
- by Matthew Belloni
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
He’s photographed naked women for Roger Corman, made a movie called Mutant Vampire Zombies from the Hood!, helmed an Asylum mockbuster that spawned a major studio lawsuit, nearly made a mega blockbuster for a major studio, and, best of all, his name really is Thunder.
With The Asylum’s lawsuit-inspiring mockbuster American Warships premiering on Syfy this weekend (May 19th at 9/8 Central) and hitting DVD shelves next week (May 22nd), I chatted with its writer-director, Thunder Levin, about the trials and tribulations of making an Asylum mockbuster, graduating from the school of Corman, and navigating the pitfalls of the b-movie scene filmmaking.
Foy: Forgive me. I have to ask a question you’ve no doubt been asked many times before. Your first name is really Thunder? That’s not just a nickname?
Thunder: (sigh) Yeah, I’ve been asked that a few times before. Yes, Thunder is my real name.
With The Asylum’s lawsuit-inspiring mockbuster American Warships premiering on Syfy this weekend (May 19th at 9/8 Central) and hitting DVD shelves next week (May 22nd), I chatted with its writer-director, Thunder Levin, about the trials and tribulations of making an Asylum mockbuster, graduating from the school of Corman, and navigating the pitfalls of the b-movie scene filmmaking.
Foy: Forgive me. I have to ask a question you’ve no doubt been asked many times before. Your first name is really Thunder? That’s not just a nickname?
Thunder: (sigh) Yeah, I’ve been asked that a few times before. Yes, Thunder is my real name.
- 5/16/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
It looks like Universal scored a few hits in its lawsuit against The Asylum over the American Battleship mockbuster but have thus far failed to sink its battleship. Instead the movie has been rechristened American Warships, and Syfy will still air it one day after Battleship opens in Us theaters.
For those that need a refresher on this whole controversy, go back and read this story from not quite two weeks ago about Universal suing The Asylum for copyright infringement over its American Battleship mockbuster starring Mario Van Peebles and Carl Weathers. Suffice to say The Asylum is taking this legal action more seriously than past run-ins with movie studios what with the name change and new artwork.
American Battleship is now titled American Warships. Regardless, the movie is still slated for a May 22nd DVD release and is still set to premiere on May 19th a 9/8 Central on Syfy,...
For those that need a refresher on this whole controversy, go back and read this story from not quite two weeks ago about Universal suing The Asylum for copyright infringement over its American Battleship mockbuster starring Mario Van Peebles and Carl Weathers. Suffice to say The Asylum is taking this legal action more seriously than past run-ins with movie studios what with the name change and new artwork.
American Battleship is now titled American Warships. Regardless, the movie is still slated for a May 22nd DVD release and is still set to premiere on May 19th a 9/8 Central on Syfy,...
- 5/9/2012
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
Well this is somewhat unexpected, and yet it's also been a long time coming. By now most movie fans are familiar with The Asylum, a low budget production company that has made a name for themselves by putting out direct-to-video rip-offs of popular Hollywood blockbusters (often referred to as "mockbusters"). Some of their not-so-acclaimed films include Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train, Paranormal Entity and Battle of Los Angeles, and they are usually released just prior to the Hollywood equivalent, creating confusion at video rental stores and on Netflix. Up until now, most studios have not really paid much attention to these atrocities, assuming that most consumers are smart enough to be able to tell them apart. This week, however, Universal Pictures has finally taken up arms against them, slapping them with a lawsuit over their upcoming Battleship clone, entitled American Battleship. According to TMZ, Universal has filed a lawsuit claiming...
- 5/2/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
Universal Studios is going to war against Global Asylum, an adversary that is in the business of producing low-budget knockoffs of major motion pictures. After spending more than $100 million to produce Battleship, its blockbuster to be released in the U.S. on May 18, and spending $30 million in advertising, Universal is upset over Asylum's own straight-to-dvd film, entitled American Battleship, which purportedly features similar artwork, packaging, release dates, and film trailers and will be released on May 22. Universal has rights over Battleship through a 2010 licensing agreement with Hasbro, which has produced Battleship board
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- 4/27/2012
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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