Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem

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Not long ago, Rob Zombie said that he’d soon be announcing his next directorial project.

And now the info is out. It isn’t the remake of The Blob, nor Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Stoke up the fire and put the cauldron on to boil, kids: Rob Zombie’s back and this time he’s tackling witches. Thanks to some cash backing from Paranormal Activity’s Jason Blum, Steven Schneider and Oren Peli via their Haunted Films company, he’s turning a long-gestating script called The Lords of Salem into his next film.

The horror thriller will take place in modern-day Salem, Massachusetts, famous – or should that be infamous – for the witch trials that took place in the 17th century. That history comes back into play when a 300-year old coven of witches starts causing trouble for the inhabitants. The film will be a thriller, “set in contemporary Salem, where the inhabitants receive a demonic visit from a 300-year old coven of witches.”

Zombie has apparently been noodling with the concept for a few years, but put it aside to work on other things. Now, though, he’s shoved it front and centre and will write a shooting draft while he’s out on tour this year, to kick off shooting in 2011. He seems especially glad at the deal Haunted Films offered him, which could best be described as carte blanche. “What excited me most was Jason saying, 'you can have total control over the script, casting and final cut,'” Zombie tells Deadline. “I said I’m in.”

Zombie says his best filmmaking experience to date has been with LionsGate on The Devil’s Rejects, and that Rejects is his best film. He says the battles on the two Halloween movies were draining. (”By the time I got [my way], I didn’t care anymore.”)

Speaking to Deadline, Zombie also name-drops The Shining as an example of a slow-burn film that might not get made by a studio now, which suggests that he might go for a longer, more deliberately paced film while making The Lords of Salem.

But what of The Blob, which he announced he’d be remaking a year ago? For those of you that don’t know, the director announced last year that he had plans to remake the 1958 Steve McQueen classic with a budget akin to Cloverfield and District 9. Not much was known about what his take on the film was going to be like, but he did say that he had plans to change the design of the blob itself.

We have good news for those who disliked his Halloween movies and bad news for fans... Zombie’s happy to stay with something original, and is ditching all his specially bought jelly moulds. “I wanted to break away from anything related to pre-existing material,” he says. “The remake train is getting pretty tired now and when I made Halloween, everybody complained, either that it was too much like the original or too different. I like that people either love or hate what I do because it’s better than being in the middle, which means forgettable. But when you do an original premise, they take it on face value and after three years of not being able to win on Halloween, I just couldn't go through that again.”

[neverending]

Well, that's good news- I'd like to see him doing more original material.

[Elvis_Christ]

Can't wait. I was hoping he'd get back to something original.

[fiend_skull]

I'm glad to see him doing what he wants to with full control. I personally loved both "House of a 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects" and I have been hoping that he'd return to doing original material.

[wufongtan.]

The good news is. His wife won't require any make up. When she gets the role of head witch. lolz.

[fortunato]

Yeah, I'll be looking forward to this.

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Rob Zombie announced today via his official Facebook that Meg Foster has joined the cast of The Lords of Salem, which begins lensing this fall from the producing team behind Insidious and Paranormal Activity.

Foster will play "Margaret Morgan", the leader of a secret coven of witches in Salem.

She has appeared in such films as John Boorman's The Emerald Forest, Sam Peckinpah's The Osterman Weekend, John Carpenter's They Live and Robert Kaylor's Carny.

"The story is about a local DJ who mistakenly unleashes a hellish curse on the town. 300 years earlier on the very streets of Salem that the townspeople walk on today, innocent folks were rounded up from their homes, convicted of being witches and sentenced to death. The Lords of Salem ran the town with an iron fist, but four witches who were tortured and killed in secrecy vowed that one day they would be back for revenge."

[Zero]

confession time: i hate rob zombie & all his films


whew that feels good

[Ritualistic]

I havent posted on here in forever but I hope to be posting more or when I have time to do so. I actually cant wait for this film, Im also glad he is getting back to some original stuff. We will see if its gunna be worth it. I think it will be.

[Elvis_Christ]

Holy shit Ritualistic! How's things? Been awhile :D