Scott W. Davis
08-23-2003, 03:35 AM
Now, although it sounds far-fetched, many projects have launched or crashed because of the name. Producers remember are looking for the marketing, and they follow the trends. If they think a certain title will get a project moving, then some producers will greenlight it.
Years ago, 20th Century Fox had Roger Corman film ROGER CORMAN'S FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND. It all came about from some random analysis that Universal did that said their FRANKENSTEIN would have made even more money if it were called ROGER CORMAN'S FRANKENSTEIN and released in the eighties. Weird, but that's what it said. Of course, this didn't stop Fox from ironically burying the release and thus not making a dime, but that's neither here nor there.
One of the most frustrating things for horror fans is that the sequel that most of us actually want to see keeps falling apart. Now, a posting on the message board shows that those slow-moving zombies may be finally getting up off their asses.
The following was what was posted. It has not been verified, but seems legit enough:
"Over the weekend (Aug. 17-19), I attended the Horrorfind and had a chance to talk to Tom Savini. After getting my NOTLD '90 and DAWN OF THE DEAD signed, I asked about the 4th dead film. I cant remember word for word but heres the jist: The new film is ready to be shot, everything is ready to go, except the name. The distributor wants THE LIVING DEAD or OF THE LIVING DEAD title in there somewhere. Problem is, as Savini put it, some idiot bought the rights to the name. Now they are trying to aquire the name so they can get the movie going. I was still a little unsure and asked if they had the financing for the movie and he asured me everything is ready except the name. So DEAD RECKONING and LAND OF THE DEAD .....looks like another name change."
Hmmm, so John Russo and anyone connected with the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD films can use it, but Romero can't? This is the only thing about the article that gets my head scratching. How much can they claim rights issues to a title anyway? And did I miss the boat in copyrighting the term, "In a world..." for use in trailers?
--------
[I 30h dotd_sm I]Comment on the the possible forward motion of the fourth DEAD film in our !
Years ago, 20th Century Fox had Roger Corman film ROGER CORMAN'S FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND. It all came about from some random analysis that Universal did that said their FRANKENSTEIN would have made even more money if it were called ROGER CORMAN'S FRANKENSTEIN and released in the eighties. Weird, but that's what it said. Of course, this didn't stop Fox from ironically burying the release and thus not making a dime, but that's neither here nor there.
One of the most frustrating things for horror fans is that the sequel that most of us actually want to see keeps falling apart. Now, a posting on the message board shows that those slow-moving zombies may be finally getting up off their asses.
The following was what was posted. It has not been verified, but seems legit enough:
"Over the weekend (Aug. 17-19), I attended the Horrorfind and had a chance to talk to Tom Savini. After getting my NOTLD '90 and DAWN OF THE DEAD signed, I asked about the 4th dead film. I cant remember word for word but heres the jist: The new film is ready to be shot, everything is ready to go, except the name. The distributor wants THE LIVING DEAD or OF THE LIVING DEAD title in there somewhere. Problem is, as Savini put it, some idiot bought the rights to the name. Now they are trying to aquire the name so they can get the movie going. I was still a little unsure and asked if they had the financing for the movie and he asured me everything is ready except the name. So DEAD RECKONING and LAND OF THE DEAD .....looks like another name change."
Hmmm, so John Russo and anyone connected with the RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD films can use it, but Romero can't? This is the only thing about the article that gets my head scratching. How much can they claim rights issues to a title anyway? And did I miss the boat in copyrighting the term, "In a world..." for use in trailers?
--------
[I 30h dotd_sm I]Comment on the the possible forward motion of the fourth DEAD film in our !