News as of 7th November From David Fakrikian : EFLA is
being released on laserdisc, for those who know what all this stuff means:
Escape From LA LTBX THX AC3 PAR $39.98 35.95 1996 101 MIN. R Street Date:
01/21/97.Also Available in Pan & Scan. This is an NTSC release.
I have heard a rumour, and this is a totally unsubstantiated rumour
that John Carpenter may no longer be involved in directing Mutant Chronicles.
I have no other information at the moment, and would appreciate more.
This rumour is further reported on the Corona
web site page - "November 4, 1996... This scooper informs us that
John Carpenter may have dropped out of the project. [Scoop sent in by 'timmyb'.]".
News as of 23rd October There is a website
up for Mutant Chronicles! There is not a lot there at the monent, but
it's an interesting looking start. This site is at the Edward
Pressman site, who is the producer for these movies.Dimension
Films also have a website previewing their current movies, nothing
about mutant chronicles there though. Also at this site "Pressman Films
is currently in pre-production on a feature film set in the Mutant Chronicles
universe, but with different continuity than the comic. An ambitious science
fantasy thriller, Mutant Chronicles is being shot in England under the
direction of Stephen Norrington, a young director with a long special effects
background (his company has more or less worked on every fantasy film of
note produced in England since Aliens). His first feature, "Death Machine",
(which Norrington also wrote) has just been released on home video. "
As far as I know this is old information, this is the director that was
chosen before JC, and he has been replaced by JC.
Also, more information about the Mutant
Chronicles comic. Rumours have it that a complete set of comics, action
figures, etc. are being released alongside the film. Looks like this is
going to be a huge project.
News as of 15th October SFX Magazine Nov 1996 : The SFX
worldwide top ten SF films puts EFLA in at number 3, so it is doing well
worldwide. Good news, that should quiet the 'flop' callers.
Empire Magazine Nov 1996 : John Carpenter has signed to direct
Mutant Chronicles, a fantasy adventure which may shoot in the UK. This
is great news, this will be the first feature that John has shot in the
UK. This suggestion is reinforced by a recent interview, in which he stated
that his new film was set in London. Also in this months Empire is a big
interview with Kurt Russel, with some input from JC, together with JC commenting
on most of his films (Christine was his least favourite, his favourite
is The Thing).
News as of 10th October From Anthony Thorne : It was nice to see Edward Pressman taking out a double-page ad in the latest Variety celebrating the fact that his two most recent releases (THE CROW 2 and DR MOREAU) both made it to #1 and made a decent amount of money. This bodes well for Pressman having the bucks to keep his future genre productions (i.e Mutant Chronicles) as viable projects.
News as of 3rd October An e-mail source has informed
me of an interview with Carpenter in SFX magazine, he discusses
his wish to do a sequel to The Thing (the suits won't let him) and
the films open ending. I have some extracts in the interviews
section
Escape From New York widescreen has been released
in the UK, it is widely available and is released on the BMG label. It's
a good quality transfer, and has the cinematic trailer for Escape From
LA on it. Try ordering it on-line, in PAL format for British, European
and Australian videos at Pastel
Blue (try contacting them if the search doesn't produce results).
News as of 26th September From NME 28th Sept
- Carpenter has just finished filming a cameo role in Quentin Tarantino's
adaptation of Elmore Leonard's (Get Shorty) Rum Punch.There is a
full article in this NME of an interview with Carpenter and Kurt Russel.
In it Carpenter discusses censorship and his career. I will have a full
transcript in the interviews section as soon
as possible. They also review EFLA and give it a right panning. But, their
review also mentions 'Carpenter's self penned, soggy techno-wallpaper musical
score', which he did not in fact write. So, take their review with a pinch
of salt.
The Making Of Escape From LA is on UK TV, HTV
Wales Thurs (tonight) and HTV west on Friday.
News as of 24th September The mutant chronicles information on
the corona website has been updated, for link to corona site see news for
11th September.
The makers of Mutant Chronicles the game, Target
Games, have a web site that offers more information on exactly what
this game is. They also have their press
announcement concerning the film.
News as of 17th September According to the UK widescreen review
Escape From New York will be released on widescreen video at the end of
this month (Sept 30th). A must-buy, widescreen is the only format that
Carpenter reckons you should view his films in.
From the sci-fi connection : John Carpenter is already considering
producing another Escape from New York movie if Escape from L.A. is a success.
Carpenter suggests the title of Escape from Earth. (Trevor May). I have
heard this, but thought Carpenter was just joking around, who knows?
From Chatsoup : Though director John Carpenter is known mostly
for his horror and action films, beginning with his hugely successful Halloween,
through movies such as The Fog, Big Trouble in Little China and, most recently,
Escape from L.A., he's had quite a different genre on his mind lately.
"I
think if I had any choice in the world, I would make the most erotic, pornographic
movie ever made", he told us on Friday. As far as we can tell, however,
there are no current plans for a XXX version of The Thing, or any other
Carpenter flick. Next in production, the director says, will be the futuristic
adventure, The Mutant Chronicles, and after that, possibly another Snake
Plissken Escape flick. Might we suggest Escape from Deep Throat?
News as of 11th September From EMPIRE
Website Well, it looks like JC was speaking the truth in that online
interview. The EMPIRE website has an entry for Mutant Chronicles
in its update list, with John Carpenter down as the director. Info is sketchy
- "This is about hordes of mutants attempting to take the over Earth.".
From Corona
Website (up to date rumous) - Genre: Science Fiction. Studio:
Unknown.
Production Company: Dimension
Films. Project Phase: Development Hell. Who's In It:
Unknown. Who's Making It: John Carpenter (Director); Edward
Pressman (Producer). Premise: Unknown. Release Date:
Unknown. Comments: We know it's based upon some role-playing game
- someone out there must know a bit more about it, right?
Check out EMPIRE magazines on-line spotlight
on EFLA.
News as of 10th September From EMPIRE Magazine, October 1996.The
Game Of The Name - John Carpenter's latest, Escape From LA, is at the centre
of a row about its director's choice of title.... The Escape From LA
Poster reveals that, like all of the director's previous output, the flick's
full moniker is "John Carpenter's Escape From LA". The director is among
a few who insist their names appear as part of the films' titles. "There's
a certain ownership involved," says Escape's producer, long-time Carpenter
collaborator, Debra Hill. "There is a Carpenter cult following and they
will know this is a sequel to John Carpenter's Escape From New York." But
the Writers Guild is not keen. They're already worried that the increasingly
common "a film by..." credit ignores the input of the screen-writer, and
see allowing directors to include their names in the title as the next
step on a slippery slope. "We consider the title of the file to be Escape
From LA not John Carpenter's Escape From LA," a spokesperson sniffed...
They also have a review of EFLA (** out of *****).
News as of 9th September The original UK release date of September 6th for EFLA seems to have been changed to September 20th. I have no idea when or why this happened.
News as of 3rd September. The real EFLA soundtrack, featuring
music by Shirley Walker & John Carpenter is out. Milan 73138 - 35773-2.
Fans of the original soundtrack will likely be disappointed by this one,
as apart from the new sounding EFNY theme, only one song, "History of Los
Angeles", closely sound like a John Carpenter synth/rythm box soundtrack.
John Carpenter & Kurt Russell will be at the Deauville film festival
in france friday 6. A press conference will occur the same day just after
the screening of the movie. The following day, Carpenter will answers interviews
all day long for many french mags. From David Fakrikian
From JC's AOL Interview - : "My next project is going to be
"The Mutant Chronicles," a sci-fi adventure set in the distant future."
Now, JC has a legendary sense of dry humour when giving interviews, so
perhaps this should be taken with a pinch of salt. Another snippet from
the interview - A JC web site is opening up in September. The
Whole Interview.
News as of 2nd September. The Surfing scene (from EFLA) is available to download here. A fairly decent review of the film from Microsofts Cinemania archives.
News as of 1st September. EFLA has been on release for 4 weeks, and has been officially recognised as one of the summer flops. Though I think it can't be that bad, as it seems well on course for making a profit. Guess people expect loads of money these days after the ID4 and Twister phenomenons.