ND series to film down under

jake1999

Boon for film trade from King of horror



AN eight-part US mini-series based on short stories by bestselling author Stephen King is to be shot in Victoria, in what is seen as a major coup for the state's film and television industry.



The multi-million-dollar production, which will be filmed at Central City Studios in Melbourne's Docklands as well as at other locations around the state, is expected to create 150 jobs.



The series, for cable TV in the US, will be based on King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes, an anthology of 20 stories, and a teleplay written in 1993.



Attracting a production based on King's work is seen as a major boon for the state's film industry. Previous screen adaptations of his books and short stories include Stand by Me, Carrie, the Oscar-winning 1990 film Misery, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Shining.



Premier Steve Bracks said yesterday Nightmares and Dreamscapes would see "more than $20million spent in Victoria, with an estimated 150 jobs for local crew, technical staff and actors".



The production will be filmed by Coote-Hayes Productions for the US cable TV network TNT. Coote-Hayes's previous credits include On the Beach, the telemovie Evil Never Dies and the mini-series Salem's Lot (also based on a King novel), all of which were shot in Melbourne.

jake1999

Sounds like a great undertaking. I'll have to finish reading N & D before this begins.



Thanks Bev!

CRinVA

undertaking down under! ;D

BevVincent

Rising newcomer Bert LaBonte, last seen in the play "The Inner Sanctum" and also the co-star of "Evil Never Dies" starring Thomas Gibson and Katherine Heigl, has been approached to play Otis Reddding in the King TV movie "Nightmares and Dreamscapes", set to film soon at the Docklands Studios in Melbourne, says The Sunday Herald Sun.



There will be eight one-hour episodes of the series, based on the short stories of horror-meister Stephen King. It's believed that a big-name U.S actor will star, with Aussie actors filling up the support cast.

BevVincent

Sharon Stone and William H. Macy will be in Melbourne in October to shoot the movie of Stephen King's short story Umney's Last Case. Coote-Hayes Production Services is searching the city for a mansion big enough and dramatic enough to background the story. They have been talking to developer Max Beck about his Miama-inspired, Kalaf Alaton-designed residence on The Esplanade in Brighton.

Based on the production company name, I'm pretty sure this is part of the Nightmares and Dreamscapes series.

BevVincent

Rising newcomer Bert LaBonte, last seen in the play "The Inner Sanctum" and also the co-star of "Evil Never Dies" starring Thomas Gibson and Katherine Heigl, has been contacted to play Otis Reddding in one of the other "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" films.



Max Beck, owner of that lovely Kalaf Alaton-designed mansion on The Esplanade in Brighton is in negotiations with the filmmakers to allow them to use his home for the film for a couple of weeks.

BevVincent

A spokeswoman for the production said a rumour that Sharon Stone had been cast in one episode was "entirely not true".

BevVincent

According to an article in Playbill magazine, Richard Thomas will be filming a part in the N&D series in January.

BevVincent

Stephen King miniseries “Nightmares and Dreamscapes” turned St.Kilda’s Palais Theatre into an old 1930’s-looking theatre this week. Just one thing – how they going to explain that friggin’ big clown face – um, Luna Park – next door? Mouth of the film’s monster, perhaps?

BevVincent

Rob Bowman is now filming Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes: Umney's Last Case, starring William H. Macy (Sahara) and Jackie McKenzie (TV's The 4400).

BevVincent

Ron Livingston, star of “Office Space” is in Australia shooting an installment of an upcoming TNT series based on Stephen King short stories.

BevVincent

Here's an article about Rebecca Gibney(Marjorie Glick from TNT's Salem's Lot) in "The End of the Whole Mess"

BevVincent

Mick Garris wrote Fangoria with an update on his participation with TNT’s currently lensing NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING. Evidently, Garris had to bow out of NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES after IDT greenlit another batch of the Garris-created/produced MASTERS. “I adapted [King’s 1993 short story] ‘Home Delivery’ for NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES and will direct it eventually,” Garris says. “But with MASTERS OF HORROR going for a second season, and some schedule changes for NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES, I won’t be directing it this year.”

BevVincent

So does that mean that another story will be included (since there's supposed to be eight), and if not, I hope there'll be a second season. There's so many other stories by King that would fit in such a series...other stories from N&D, Everything's Eventual, Night Shift, Skeleton Crew, and a bunch of those uncollected ones.

BevVincent

There's no word yet on what the series producers plan to do.

DTUK

I always wanted to see Battleground and One for the Road.

BevVincent

It will be replaced by Authopsy Room Four.



Lilja

BevVincent

Cool! It's funny because both Battleground, The Road Virus Heads North, Umney's Last Case and now Autopsy Room Four has been done as dollar-babies first (well, the dollar-baby of Umney's Last Case is in the works, anyway).



So let's hope Home Delivery (and many other great stories) gets made for a (hopeful!!!) second season.



And oh yeah, there's also the spanish animated dollar-baby of Home Delivery in the works.

BevVincent

TNT has given Fango an update on its NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES: FROM THE STORIES OF STEPHEN KING anthology, which we last told you about here. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE’s William Hurt (pictured), Tom (EYE SEE YOU) Berenger and Marsha Mason will appear in episodes of the summer series, executive-produced by Bill Haber’s Ostar Enterprises. Scripters include veteran King adapters Peter (TNT’s ‘SALEM’S LOT) Filardi and the 1976 CARRIE’s Lawrence D. Cohen.



The current stories, cast and crew lineup for the first six of the eight NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES follow:



• UMNEY’S LAST CASE: Directed by Rob (REIGN OF FIRE) Bowman from a teleplay by April Smith (scripter of the 1998 THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE remake). CELLULAR’s William H. Macy and DEEP BLUE SEA’s Jacqueline McKenzie star in this story about a fictional private eye whose author decides he wants to take the place of his detective creation to escape from the tragedy of his own life.



• YOU KNOW THEY GOT A HELL OF A BAND: Directed by TV vet Mike Robe, who also wrote the teleplay. Kim Delaney and Steven (MASTERS OF HORROR) Weber topline this tale of a young couple who happen upon a town in which all of the residents share a deadly secret while gearing up for the concert of a lifetime. Joe Sagal will play Elvis Presley and William (OPERA) McNamara is Ricky Nelson.



• THE END OF THE WHOLE MESS: Directed by Mikael (SALEM’S LOT) Salomon from a teleplay by Cohen. An award-winning filmmaker (Ron Livingston) documents his final hour of life and tells the story of his brother’s discovery of a chemical that ends all violence. When the brother (MASTERS’ Henry Thomas) attempts to use the chemical on the world, however, the results are catastrophic.



• THE FIFTH QUARTER: Also directed by Bowman, from a teleplay by Alan (DAMNATION ALLEY) Sharp. Jeremy (MAY) Sisto stars as a recently released criminal who learns from his dying friend of a map torn into four parts. If put back together, the map will lead to the location of $1 million taken during a robbery. But finding it might not be as easy as it seems. Samantha (‘SALEM’S LOT) Mathis co-stars.



• THE ROAD VIRUS HEADS NORTH: Directed by Sergio (TAKEN) Mimica-Gezzan from a teleplay by Filardi. Berenger portrays a prize-winning author on a road trip due north. After stopping at a yard sale to buy a painting, he later realizes the art piece, which shows a car traveling along a road, is slowly changing and may be controlling his fate. Mason co-stars as Aunt Trudy.



• BATTLEGROUND: Directed by Brian (FARSCAPE) Henson from a teleplay by Richard Christian Matheson (MASTERS’ DANCE OF THE DEAD). After murdering the owner of a toy company, a killer for hire (Hurt) receives a package of toy soldiers in the mail, but these soldiers aren’t just playing around.



Four of the NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES entries come from King’s 1993 anthology of the same name; THE ROAD VIRUS HEADS NORTH derives from King’s 2002 EVERYTHING’S EVENTUAL and BATTLEGROUND from 1978’s NIGHT SHIFT. The yet-to-be-crewed AUTOPSY ROOM FOUR (from EVERYTHING’S EVENTUAL) replaces HOME DELIVERY (from the NIGHTMARES omnibus), once slotted for King pal Mick (THE STAND) Garris to helm. Watch Fango next year for an exclusive set visit to NIGHTMARES & DREAMSCAPES’ shoot in Australia. —Tony Timpone

BevVincent

OSCAR-WINNING actor William Hurt spent his first day in Melbourne at the zoo, observing the animals in research for his role in the US cable TV series Nightmares and Dreamscapes.



The series -- based on horror writer Stephen King's short stories -- has seen the likes of William Macy and Ron Livingstone come to town for filming.



The publicity-shy Hurt plays hitman John Renshaw in the episode Battleground. In the episode, Renshaw murders the CEO of a prestigious toy company.



Hurt will spend two weeks in Melbourne filming at Docklands' Central City Studios and at a private house.



It's not the first time Hurt has shot in Australia. In 1997 he made the sci-fi thriller Dark City alongside Melissa George in Sydney.



He won his Oscar for 1985's Kiss of the Spider Woman.



He will next be seen on Melbourne big screens in the acclaimed History of Violence from director David Cronenberg, opening in March.