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The 2000s was a great decade for the fantasy genre. Not only did you have landmark franchises like The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter make their mark, but audiences also got to appreciate gems like Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth and Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away. It is hard to think of another era that had so many remarkable series and films in the genre that still garners acclaim today. At the same time, with the genre thriving, you had many trying to capitalize and falling short, such as The Gold Compass and Treasure Planet being significant box office flops.

One movie that fell short of expectations was 2008's Inkheart, not making back its budget at the theater, and seeing the scores of critics. However, with the movie now on Max, fantasy fans have been giving the movie a second chance. We will examine the Brendan Fraser-led fantasy,...

Inkheart deserves a second chance with a TV reboot to redeem the failed movie adaptation. A TV format wpuld Inkheart to properly explain the world and plot, garnering more viewer interest than a movie. Inkheart could join the young adult fantasy TV renaissance, following the successful paths paved by Percy Jackson and His Dark Materials.

In 2008, the book-to-movie adaptation of Inkheart was poorly received, but 16 years later, it may be the perfect candidate for a television reboot. Written by Cornelia Funke, Inkheart is the first in a trilogy of young adult fantasy novels called the Inkworld series. The story follows Meggie, a young woman who is thrust into a dangerous situation when her father reads from a book called "Inkheart" and accidentally summons a magical villain. Using the magic her father has released, Meggie is the only one who can save herself and her father from this story that has come to life.

Inkheart was a beloved children's fantasy book of the 2000s, but it has sadly faded out of the spotlight over time. Despite winning awards and being in the top 100 for children's literature, Inkheart is now largely unrecognized by modern young readers. The movie adaptation of Inkheart, released in 2009, did not live up to the source material, leaving fans frustrated with lost magic.

The 2003 fantasy book Inkheart was a breathtaking piece of children's literature, and though it was recognized with a movie adaptation, it no longer gets the attention it deserves. Young adult and children's fantasy has always had the potential to leave its mark on popular culture, with series like The Chronicles of Narnia remaining wildly popular and celebrated for the better part of a century. However, there have been books and series over the years that have deserved every bit as much recognition, but they have sadly fallen out of prevalence.

Inkheart has a compelling story with a unique concept that is unexplored in mainstream media, making it a relevant and in-demand franchise. A TV show adaptation of Inkheart would be better suited to fully explore the story and allow for a more cohesive and detailed timeline. A faithful reboot of Inkheart has the potential to inspire a new generation of readers and bring the magic of books to life in a new format.

Iain Softley's Inkheart, starring Brendan Fraser in the lead role, had the potential to become the next big fantasy franchise of the 2000s, but unfortunately, it got bashed by critics and overlooked by general audiences, possibly due to lackluster marketing — and it deserves a second chance in the form of a TV show. Based on Cornelia Funke's novel of the same name, Inkheart is a magical story about a young Meggie and her father Mo...

People often refer to a film being "dumped on Netflix" as a pejorative, despite the fact the landscape of entertainment has evolved well beyond a non-theatrical release being a sign of lesser quality. The streamer has distributed some genuinely incredible films, many of which have already been deemed worthy of a physical release treatment by the Criterion Collection, including "Beasts of No Nation," "Okja," "Roma," "The Irishman," "Marriage Story," "Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese," "Dick Johnson is Dead," "The Power of the Dog," and if we're counting international distribution, "Uncut Gems."

And now, the best Netflix film of 2022 and the reigning Oscar winner for Best Animated Feature, "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio," is joining that elusive club.

A reborn take on Carlo Collodi's classic character of the same name, "Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio" is a marvel of stop-motion animation and arguably the definitive adaptation of the tale.

Guillermo del Toro is returning to The Criterion Collection, as his 2022 Oscar winner Pinocchio will be released on December 12th as spine #1201. What, no love for Robert Zemeckis’ version?

Here are the special features for The Criterion Collection’s upcoming release of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which also comes complete with stunning cover art by James Jean:

4K digital master, supervised by directors Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, with Dolby Atmos One 4K Uhd disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision Hdr and one Blu-ray with the film and special features Handcarved Cinema, a new documentary featuring del Toro, Gustafson, and cast and crew, including the film’s puppet creators, production designers, and animation supervisor Directing Stop-Motion, a new program featuring del Toro and Gustafson New conversation between del Toro and film critic Farran Smith Nehme New interview with curator Ron Magliozzi on The Museum of...

Master of twisted fairytales Guillermo del Toro is thankful that “Pan’s Labyrinth” received its own happily-ever-after ending after a tumultuous production.

For the Oscar-winning film’s 15th anniversary, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures hosted del Toro, actor Doug Jones, and cinematographer Guillermo Navarro in a roundtable interview to discuss the making of “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

“After ‘Hellboy’ and ‘Blade II’ were successful, I got offered every superhero movie — they were starting to pick up,” del Toro said, via The Hollywood Reporter. “I was thinking about it because it was very tempting and I said, ‘Do I do ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ or do I do a big movie?'”

Del Toro continued, “I like going from big movies to smaller movies. I like it because it keeps you honest, and it keeps you scared. Both things are very important. But everything that could go wrong on ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ went wrong.”

That included...

Rise’s animation studio is expected to employ a workforce of up to 120 animators.

Sinje Gebauer is to head a new Munich-based animation studio to be launched by Germany’s Rise Group in August.

Gebauer will also take over the management of the Munich office of Rise Visual Effects Studios from current managing director Dominik Trimborn, who is leaving the company after five years in the post.

Gebauer had worked as senior VFX producer on Aquaman, Black Panther, Tomb Raider and Ballon before joining the newly founded Studio Isar Animation, a subsidiary of Studio 100 Media, at the end of 2018 as head of studio,...

Germany’s Rise Visual Effects Studios has established its own animation studio for high-end film and series productions in Munich, where the company has appointed animation expert and VFX producer Sinje Gebauer to head its Munich office as well as the new division.

The new animation unit will act as an independent, creative arm within the Rise group, mainly handling animation projects from the production slate of Rise Pictures with a strong focus on visual development and concept art, according to the company.

Gebauer, who has served as senior VFX producer on such films as “Aquaman,” “Tomb Raider” and “Black Panther,” will take over as new managing director of Rise’s Munich office in August, succeeding Dominik Trimborn, who is leaving the company at his own request after five years.

“I’m looking forward to the new challenge,” Gebauer said. “For me, Rise has for years stood for innovation and outstanding entrepreneurship.

Uncharted Territory and Bavaria Fiction are charting a course to the stars with “Orion,” a relaunch of the classic German science fiction series “Raumpatrouille — Die phantastischen Abenteuer des Raumschiffes Orion” (“Space Patrol — The Fantastic Adventures of the Spaceship Orion”).

The iconic black and white show, which became known simply as “Raumpatrouille Orion,” had a brief seven-episode run on West Germany’s Ard in 1966 but went on to become a beloved cult favorite over the years through reruns.

The original series, which was likewise produced by Bavaria Film, centered on Commander Cliff Allister McLane (Dietmar Schönherr) and the diverse crew of the space cruiser Orion as they protect a united Earth in a war against an alien race known as the Frogs.

The new version, based on a concept by Uncharted Territory’s Volker Engel and Gesa Engel, continues the story established in the original series but with a new generation of characters.

Animated fantasy adventure will be sold by Gfm Animation.

Uncharted Territory has partnered with Germany’s Rise Pictures to produce Igraine The Brave, a 3D-animated adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s fantasy adventure novel.

Uncharted’s Volker Engel, who won the best visual effects Oscar in 1997 for his work on Independence Day, will direct the film with Germany’s Holger Tappe, whose credits include Monster Family and Animals United.

The screenplay has been written by Jane Ainscough while Disney veteran Andreas Deja, whose credits include The Lion King and Aladdin, will serve as an animation consultant.

World sales will be handled by London-based Gfm Animation.

Uncharted Territory and Rise Pictures have greenlit an animated film adaptation of Igraine the Brave, a children’s fantasy novel from bestselling author Cornelia Funke (Inkheart).

Holger Tappe (Animals United) will direct the movie together with Oscar-winning visual effects artist Volker Engel (Independence Day). Engel, Gesa Engel, and Lucia Scharbatke of Uncharted Territory will produce together with Ulrich Schwarz and Sven Pannicke of Rise Pictures. L.A.-based Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross (the short film Oscar contender If Anything Happens I Love You) are on board as international co-production partners. Gfm Animation is handling world sales.

Andreas Deja, a supervising animator on The ...

Uncharted Territory and Rise Pictures have greenlit an animated film adaptation of Igraine the Brave, a children’s fantasy novel from bestselling author Cornelia Funke (Inkheart).

Holger Tappe (Animals United) will direct the movie together with Oscar-winning visual effects artist Volker Engel (Independence Day). Engel, Gesa Engel, and Lucia Scharbatke of Uncharted Territory will produce together with Ulrich Schwarz and Sven Pannicke of Rise Pictures. L.A.-based Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross (the short film Oscar contender If Anything Happens I Love You) are on board as international co-production partners. Gfm Animation is handling world sales.

Andreas Deja, a supervising animator on The ...

Uncharted Territory and Rise Pictures have joined forces to produce “Igraine the Brave,” a 3D-animated fantasy adventure based on the novel by bestselling author Cornelia Funke.

The story follows 12-year-old Igraine, the only one in her family who is not interested in magic, but is instead pursuing a headstrong plan to become a knight. Just when her brother accidentally turns their parents into pigs, their beloved home, Pimpernel Castle, is besieged by the knight Rowan Heartless and his master, Osmond the Greedy. They plan to steal her family’s singing books of magic to become all-powerful. It’s up to Igraine to save her family — even if it means facing giants and three-headed dragons.

“Igraine the Brave” will be produced by Uncharted Territory’s Volker Engel, Gesa Engel and Lucia Scharbatke, who are partnering with Rise Pictures’ Ulrich Schwarz and Sven Pannicke executive producing, with L.A.-based Robyn Klein and Jeremy Ross co-producing.

Patrick Stewart voices a baddie trying to obliterate lovable dragons in this bland but entertaining family film

Not to be mistaken for the Dreamworks film How to Train Your Dragon franchise, here is a reasonably entertaining German family animation based on the 1997 bestseller by children’s author Cornelia Funke. It’s a great-looking film, energetically voiced in English by an A-team of British actors, but seriously let down by unexciting storytelling. Little children, though, may connect to the environmental message. Once upon a time, dragons and humans coexisted in harmony until humans hunted dragons close to extinction. Now the dragons live hidden deep in the rainforest, but deforestation is bringing their old foe ever closer.

Among the dragons is young Firedrake (voiced by Thomas Brodie-Sangster), who has an embarrassing problem: he can’t breathe fire. Whenever he tries, only little fart-puffs of smoke come out. To prove his worth, he...

‘Tenet’ hits $334m globally, while family films dominate Germany.

’Demon Slayer’ slays Japan with $44m opening

Japanese anime Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train delivered a sensational $44m three-day opening in Japan for joint distributors Toho and Aniplex – the top result globally at the weekend for any film on release, and the biggest ever opening for a film in Japan.

The film is adapted from the manga Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba by Koyoharu Gotoge, and was previously adapted into a 2019 TV series. Both the series and the film are directed by Haruo Sotozaki, whose animation department credits include Cowboy Bebop: The Movie...

Cinema numbers are shrinking again as Covid-19 cases rise across Europe.

France, opening Wednesday October 14

It has been a complicated few days for French distributors and exhibitors following the introduction of a night-time curfew from Saturday night in Paris and eight other major cities, as part of measures to slow the spread of Covid-19.

The measure, which obliges people to return home by 9pm, effectively wipes out key evening screening slots although exhibitors are lobbying the government for a special dispensation for cinemagoers. A final decision was expected late Friday or over the weekend, but if the answer is ‘no...

Germany’s film industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, but the sector remains teeming with opportunities for domestic and international productions and looks set to spring back into action in the coming months.

Boasting 10 federal and regional film funders with more than €330 million ($359 million) for film and TV production and a number of major studio and VFX facilities, the country has become a favorite location for international producers.

Warner Bros.’ “The Matrix 4” and Sony Pictures’ “Uncharted” were all set to shoot at Studio Babelsberg near Berlin before work stopped amid the Covid-19 outbreak in March. While the studio initially let go hundreds of film crew members following the shutdown, it has since reinstated them after securing financial assistance from the federal labor agency, staving off a potential legal dispute.

Other recent international projects that lensed in Germany include Abel Ferrara’s Berlinale screener “Siberia,” starring Willem Dafoe,...

France’s shortlist for its best international film Oscar submission includes Cannes hits Les Miserables and Portrait Of A Lady On Fire and recent Toronto premiere Proxima. The selection committee, which is overseen by the country’s National Cinema Centre, will make its final selection on Friday, September 20. There was no place for Roman Polanski’s Venice title An Officer And A Spy, perhaps less of a surprise given the Academy’s expulsion from its ranks of the six-time Oscar-winning director in 2018. France’s selection committee includes producers Rosalie Varda and Jean Bréhat, sales agents Agathe Valentin and Muriel Sauzay, directors Danièle Thompson and Pierre Salvadori, Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux, UniFrance president Serge Toubiana and Cesar president Alain Terzian. France has been one of the most successful countries in the foreign language category: more than half of their Oscar submissions have achieved nominations and nine have won the award.

Comcast...

Even after winning Best Picture and Director for “The Shape of Water” last year, Guillermo del Toro is still most beloved by many for “Pan’s Labyrinth.” His breakthrough film was one of the best-reviewed of 2006, won three of the six Academy Awards for which it was nominated, and displayed his fairytale-loving sensibility in a way that continues to resonate. So much so, in fact, that he’s revisiting it by co-writing “Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun” with Cornelia Funke (“Inkheart”).

That title is a nod to the film’s original Spanish-language name of “El laberinto del fauno,” which translates to (you guessed it) “The Labyrinth of the Faun.” Described as a transformation of the film, it will include short stories that expand the folklore on which “Pan’s Labyrinth” is based. Del Toro had more ideas for the world he created than could be made explicit onscreen,...

There are a lot of films out there that are adaptations of books or graphic novels and it’s alway cool when it is the other way around.

13 years after Guillermo del Toro’s 2006 hit Pan’s Labyrinth was released in theaters, it’s set to get “an epic and dark fantasy novel for readers of all ages.” The novelization of the film comes from director and writer Guillermo del Toro and Inkheart author Cornelia Funke.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, Do So. Once you do you will understand why this movie needs this book. What makes the novelization so cool is the fact that it will give del Toro a chance to expand on the richness of this world and add details the maybe we missed in the movie.

Here’s the official synopsis for the upcoming book Pan’s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun:...

It’s been 13 years since we ventured into Guillermo del Toro‘s dark fantasy world of Pan’s Labyrinth. In the film, a twisted fairy tale clashes with Spanish fascism as an 11-year old girl becomes embroiled in a war she wants no part of. She finds an escape in a twisted labyrinth that allows her to […]

The post ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ Has Been Turned Into a World-Expanding Novel by Guillermo del Toro and Cornelia Funke appeared first on /Film.

Return to the Labyrinth this summer. Oscar winning writer-director Guillermo del Toro and New York Times bestselling author Cornelia Funke have come together to transform del Toro’s hit movie Pan’s Labyrinth into an epic and dark fantasy novel for readers of all ages, complete with haunting illustrations and enchanting short stories that flesh out the folklore of this fascinating […]...

Anna Kendrick has signed on for the sci-fi thriller Stowaway, the second film from the duo behind the Cannes Official Selection Arctic. As with Arctic, the film will be directed by Joe Penna and co-written by Penna & Ryan Morrisson. Morrison will also serve as executive producer. Xyz Films will produce alongside Rise Pictures and augenschein Filmproduktion, with Xyz and CAA Media Finance handling financing and sales at the upcoming American Film Market.

Shortly after takeoff, the crew of a spaceship headed to Mars discovers an accidental stowaway. Too far from Earth to turn back and with resources quickly dwindling, the ship's medical researcher (Kendrick) emerges as the only dissenting voice against the group consensus that has already decided in favor of a grim outcome.

Kendrick, who is best known for her Oscar-nominated role in Up in the Air and as the lead of the Pitch Perfect franchise, can currently be...

Historical romance, literary adaptations, arthouse drama, star-studded comedies, children’s pics, animated fare and a high-profile documentary are among the many German films and co-productions on offer at this year’s Cannes Film Market.

Unspooling as part of the festival are Wim Wenders’ “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” repped by Focus Features and bowing in Special Screenings; “In My Room,” Ulrich Koehler’s story of a man who suddenly realizes everyone around him has disappeared, which world premieres in Un Certain Regard; and, in Intl. Critics’ Week sidebar, Anja Kofmel’s Swiss co-production “Chris the Swiss,” a partially animated documentary from Urban Distribution that investigates the mysterious death of a young Swiss journalist during the Yugoslav wars.

On the market side, one historical niche that is proving particularly successful is that of the turn-of-the-century artist.

Picture Tree Intl. is following its 2016 hit “Egon Schiele — Death and the Maiden,...

Rogue One star Felicity Jones, Love Actually’s Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Star Trek’s Patrick Stewart and Bates Motel’s Freddie Highmore have joined Tomer Eshed’s Dragon Rider.

The quartet will work alongside previously announced actors Meera Syal (Doctor Strange), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Absolutely Anything) and Nonso Anozie (Cinderella) in the animated adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s novel.

It is being sold at Cannes by Timeless Films and is produced by Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben together with the co-producers Cyborn and RiseFX along with the team of Lumatic. The film is due to be delivered fall 2019.

Written by Johnny Smith (Gnomeo & Juliet), Dragon Rider trails an unlikely trio of heroes; young silver dragon Firedrake (Brodie-Sangster), Sorrel (Jones) the mountain brownie and a boy called Ben (Highmore) as they embark on an epic adventure and battle against a vicious, dragon-killing machine called Nettlebrand (Stewart) to find the ‘Rim of Heaven’.

“Felicity,...

Felicity Jones, the star of 2016’s “Rogue One,” has signed up for animated movie “Dragon Rider,” joining an impressive voice cast that includes Patrick Stewart. The film is one of the biggest animation projects out of Europe in recent times.

Based on Cornelia Funke’s bestselling novel of the same name, the family adventure will be produced by Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben. It will be directed by Tomer Eshed. Cyborn, RiseFX and Lumatic are co-producers. Johnny Smith (“Gnomeo & Juliet) wrote the movie, which will launch in the fall of 2019.

Other cast members are Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Freddie Highmore, Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Nonso Anozie.

The film follows Firedrake, a young silver dragon; Sorrel, a mountain spirit; and Ben, an orphaned boy. The unlikely band searches in the Himalayas for the Rim of Heaven, which can offer sanctuary for Firedrake’s kin, whose valley is made uninhabitable by a dam.

Rogue One star Felicity Jones, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Maze Runner), Patrick Stewart (Logan) and Freddie Highmore (The Good Doctor) have joined the voice cast for Tomer Eshed’s animated family feature, Dragon Rider.

Meera Syal (Doctor Strange), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Absolutely Anything) and Nonso Anozie (Cinderella) are also cast.

Based on Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel of the same name, the film will be produced by Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben together with co-producers Cyborn and RiseFX along with the team of Lumatic. Timeless Films is handling worldwide sales.

Dragon Rider — written by Johnny Smith (Gnomeo...

Timeless Films selling project in Cannes.

Felicity Jones (Rogue One), Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Maze Runner) and Patrick Stewart (Star Trek) have boarded the voice cast of feature animation Dragon Rider.

Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland), Meera Syal (Doctor Strange), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Absolutely Anything) and Nonso Anozie (Cinderella) are also in the cast of the film, which follows a trio of heroes: young silver dragon Firedrake (Brodie-Sangster), Sorrel (Jones) the mountain brownie and a boy called Ben (Highmore) as they embark on an adventure and battle against a dragon-killing machine called Nettlebrand (Stewart).

Based on Cornelia Funke’s novel of the same...

<em>Rogue One</em> star Felicity Jones, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (<em>The Maze Runner</em>), Patrick Stewart (<em>Logan</em>) and Freddie Highmore (<em>The Good Doctor</em>) have joined the voice cast for Tomer Eshed’s animated family feature, <em>Dragon Rider. </em>

Meera Syal (<i>Doctor Strange</i>), Sanjeev Bhaskar (<i>Absolutely Anything</i>) and Nonso Anozie (<i>Cinderella</i>) are also cast.

Based on Cornelia Funke’s best-selling novel of the same name, the film will be produced by Constantin Film’s Martin Moszkowicz and Oliver Berben together with co-producers Cyborn and RiseFX along with the team of Lumatic. Timeless Films is handling worldwide sales.

<em>Dragon Rider</em> — written by Johnny Smith (<em>Gnomeo ...</em></br></br></br></br>...

Fund also supporting adaptation of erotic classic Fear Of Flying.

The Daniel Radcliffe action comedy Guns Akimbo the first screen adaptation of Erica Jong’s 1973 erotic classic Fear Of Flying are the latest projects to be supported by the international co-production fund operated under the auspices of the Bavarian Film & Television Fund (Fff Bayern) as part of a concerted drive to attract large-scale productions to the region.

The Fff subcommittee for international co-productions allocated €2m ($2.2m) apiece at its latest session on Wednesday (5 July) to two Us projects which will be co-produced with Munich-based companies and largely or completely shot on location in Bavaria.

Philipp Kreuzer and Joerg Schulze’s Maze Pictures are partnering Us producers Joe Neurauter and Felipe Marino of La/Munich-based Occupant Entertainment on New Zealand filmmaker Jason Lei Howden’s action comedy Guns Akimbo which already has Daniel Radcliffe attached for the lead role. Principal photography is set to be located completely in Bavaria...

German mini-major Constantin Film has begun production on the animated feature Dragon Rider, based on the best-selling fantasy novel by author Cornelia Funke (Inkheart).

Johnny Smith, one of the screenwriters on Disney's 2011 hit Gnomeo & Juliet, adapted Funke's novel for the screen, with award-winner German shorts animator Tomer Eshed directing in what will be his feature debut.

Funke's 1997 book, which has sold more than 3 million copies worldwide, follows the adventures of Firedrake, a silver dragon who teams up with a human boy and the Brownie Sorrel to search for a mythical land where Firedrake's family can live...

Exclusive: Company launches sci-fi Hubris and 3D adventure Dragon Rider.

Belgian animation specialist Cyborn, whose latest feature Ploey [pictured] has been a big seller for Arri in the Marché, has announced details of its latest projects.

The Antwerp-based company is moving ahead on Hubris, an animated sci-fi aimed at young adults and scripted by company founder Ives Agemans.

The feature project is being set up as an international co-production and will include Vr and possibly interactive elements.

“It’s a very ambitious project. It is creating a new world,” Iris Delaforty, associate producer at Cyborn, told Screen. “We are really thinking about whether or not it would be possible to do it entirely in 360… there are a lot of female characters, kick-ass women.”

Cyborn is also the Belgian co-producer on 3D German-originated animation Dragon Rider, which Tomer Eshed will direct based on the novel by Cornelia Funke.

The story centres on a boy and his silver dragon friend...

Happy Black Friday, everyone, and welcome back for Day 2 of Daily Dead’s fourth annual Holiday Gift Guide! Once again, our goal is to help you navigate your way through the horrors of the shopping season with our tips on unique gift ideas, and we’ll hopefully help you save a few bucks over the next few weeks, too.

This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is being sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help you get into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also recently teamed up with Texas-based artist Dustin Pace of Duddy in Motion to create an amazing Stranger Things print (see below) that all of our giveaway winners will receive with our amazing prize packs that feature a collection of items, including movies, graphic novels, the Duddy in Motion Stranger Things print,...

Editor’s note: After a two-week vacation break, we’re now back with an expanded selection to catch up.

Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.

Boyhood (Richard Linklater)

After being put through the awards season grinder — resulting in hours upon hours of conversations — what left is there to learn about the production of Richard Linklater‘s 12-years-in-the-making project Boyhood? The Criterion Collection edition proves, evidently, a fair amount. In fact, what’s so interesting about the plethora of special features — aside from an intimate...

*Updated with the official release date and special features.* Although it may be hard to believe, this year already marks the 10th anniversary of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, and Criterion will celebrate the occasion with a special Blu-ray / DVD release of the beloved film.

On October 18th, Criterion will release Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth on both a 10th anniversary Blu-ray edition and a two-disc DVD edition. The Blu-ray features a new 2K digital master of the film that was overseen by del Toro himself, as well as numerous bonus features (, including new interviews with del Toro and Doug Jones:

Newly graded 2K digital master, supervised by director Guillermo del Toro, with 5.1 surround DTS-hd Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray Alternate DTS-hd Master Audio 7.1 surround soundtrack on the Blu-ray Audio commentary by del Toro from 2007 New interview with del Toro by novelist Cornelia Funke about fairy tales,...

Fear is an intricate emotion, which triggers visible physical reactions but profoundly affects one’s psyche in ways far more destructive. It thrives on uncertainty as it serves to prevent us from facing danger and experiencing pain. It’s because of this that death, the most certain part of our mortal lives, ranks high on the list of things we fear. It can happen anywhere, at any time, for countless reasons, it’s permanent, and yet its aftermath is unknown.

Enthralled by this idea, Edgar Allan Poe explored humanity’s relationship with its fatal destiny by writing fiction that focused on the supernatural, on evil, and alternate realities, attempting to decipher this terrifying concept. “Extraordinary Tales," Raul Garcia's animated anthology, takes five of these stories by revered writer and transforms them into stylistically distinct shorts that are as visually striking as they are spine-chilling.

The Spanish animator became fascinated with Poe and his otherworldly stories at an early age, but worked on an array of projects before finally bringing one of his favorite authors to the screen by simultaneously honoring numerous other artists that have influenced his career. Each of the five segments in "Extraordinary Tales" is inspired by a different aesthetic, which makes for an eclectic showcase of what 3D animation could be beyond the mainstream conventions.

To make the film an even more compelling affair, Garcia was able to recruit some of the most important and iconic voices in genre cinema. Bela Lugosi reappears from beyond the grave thanks to a previously unreleased recording, Christopher Lee returns to horror one final time to narrate one of the episodes, Roger Corman continues to demonstrate his love for Poe by voicing one of the characters, and Guillermo del Toro shows his voice acting talents in an unexpected fashion.

During our conversation Garcia talked about his artistic influences, being an independent animator today, getting to work with his childhood heroes, and the biggest mistake horror films make when trying to instill fear.

How did you fall in love with Edgar Allan Poe's stories? What was the seed that sparked this fascination with his work that compelled you to create this beautiful animated anthology?

Raul Garcia: The seed was planted when I was bout 12-years-old because the firs adult book I read was a compilation of Poe’s stories. That was the first book for grown-ups I read [Laughs]. Then there was my passion as an avid comic book and graphic novel reader. I’ve always leaned towards the dark side, so it was the perfect combination. Since then, I’ve been a fan of horror literature and science fiction and fantasy as well. That first book was the seed that started it all.

Edgar Allan Poe’s stories have been adapted countless because it seems like they lend themselves to interpretation and experimentation. How did you approach the material to make your animated versions distinct from the rest?

Raul Garcia: There are thousands of different film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe’s works everywhere. Obviously, the ones that most of us know are the ones done by Roger Corman in the 60s with Vincent Price, which were not really adaptations because they only used the titles as an excuse to make a horror film. When I decided to make my version of Poe’s stories, I wanted to respect the original material or to at least get closer to what his stories are really about. Most other adaptations I’ve seen sort of follow the story but they never satisfy me as an audience member or as a reader. I wanted to get closer to the spirit of the stories more than than to the text itself. I didn’t necessarily want to do it verbatim, but there are some lines of dialogue that I’ve taken literally from Poe’s writings. I wanted to make adaptations that distilled the essence of what attracted me about these stories in the first place.

Each segment has a very particular stylistic approach. While they are all beautiful in their own right, each showcases an eclectic mix of textures and influences. How did each visual style originate?

Raul Garcia: Everything started with “The Tell-Tale Heart," which was the first short I made for this project, which originally was supposed to be a one-off. This was a story that I wanted to tell with art inspired by one of the greatest comic book artist there is, Alberto Breccia. He was Argentine comic book artist. It was about adapting his style to this story. Departing from this decision I created a set rules for myself, which I would apply to the rest of the stories. Since for this first story I had used Breccia’s art as the basis, I thought that for the rest of the stories I would try to reconnect with all the artistic influences I’ve had in my life and apply them in a way that had something to do with the spirit of the each story. I searched for things that attracted in terms of artistic styles and I tried to adapt them into the world of animation to make these short films.

For example, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” the idea was for the characters to look as if they were carved out of wood, like if they were figures that belonged to Czech animator Jirí Trnka. In “The Masque of the Red Death,” the biggest influence was Egon Schiele and Bruegel. Egon Schiele worked with oil paint, but he used very thin layers of paint which made his works look like watercolors. I tried to resemble that to create moving painting for that’s story. That short is one of my favorites, because in Poe’s original story there is no dialogue except for the line that’s in the short. It’s all very descriptive. This really represented a challenged that allowed me to have fun during the process of creating it. I’ve always tried to find those distinct approaches because this is a 3D animated film and I wanted to stay away from the style that all 3D animated films have today. They are all rendered in the same manner with photorealist textures. I tried to make something much more pictorial, so that the audience wouldn’t know if they were watching something done in 3D, 2D, in oil paintings, or made out of cut-outs.

The segment based on “The Facts in the Case of Mr. Valdemar” looks very much like if it was a 2D animated film. It's interesting to hear it was all 3D.

Raul Garcia Yes. Poe wrote that story as if it was a real case or the study written by a scientist taking notes from an experiment. When it was published people thought that the case in the story actually happened. People though that what they were reading were the notes taken by a scientist that had brought a corpse back to life. Having this in mind, my approach to find the right style was to look at medical illustrations and to make the animation look like if it was taken from a medical journal. However, and because I think I should also tell you about the bad experiences, I have to admit that approach didn’t work. I didn’t like how it looked. It felt very cold and calculated. But then, I reread the story and realized that this story was over the top, very exaggerated. Then I thought about the horror comic books that I read when I was kid, which shared this outrageous and exaggerated spirit.

That’s when I decided to make this story based on the look of horror comic books from the 50s, which were printed on cheap paper and only used four different color inks. They were printed using the Cmyk color model, so the color spectrum used was very small. Colorists, who used to be very underpaid, did what they could with these four colors. Sometimes in one panel a face was blue and in the next one the same face was red, and nobody cared about having any sort of continuity [Laughs]. I applied this color limitation to this story. Besides the fact that the style is very much inspired by those comic books, the animation is also animated as if it was 2D. In computer animation each second is created by 24 frames and each one of these 24 frames is different. In 2D animation, to save time and money, you create 12 drawings and each drawing is used twice. In one second created of 24 frames you really only have 12 frames. I tried to do it this segment using this process as if it was 2D because it gives the animation a different cadence in comparison to the rest of the stories.

Then you have “The Pit and the Pendulum,” which is in a sense hyperrealist even though it still feels like there are elements of fine art in it.

Raul Garcia: That one was interesting because the original story takes place in a prison and there is only one character. When I started thinking about how to make these stories, what I wanted was to experiment with different types of animation and see how far we could get in terms of technology. Initially, I wanted to make this segment using motion capture. At the time I thought that films made using motion capture always looked bad, and I wanted to know why! [Laughs]. Unfortunately I couldn’t find a motion capture team to make it. At that moment the challenge changed, and we decided to make something hyperrealist - something I personally hate [Laughs]. I decided we should make something hyperrealist but with more traditional 3D animation and see how refined and subtle we could make it without using motion capture or any real life references. That’s how the style for this one came about, which I think it’s a blend between Goya and Nicéphore Niépce and the beginning of photography, mixed with those prisons that Piranesi drew in his carvings. What I’ve tried to do is give myself the pleasure and luxury to explore the universes of the artists I admire.

One of the many remarkable qualities of the film is that every segment captures the unsettling tone of the stories. The macabre atmosphere, regardless of which style you are using, is subtle but always present. At times it's truly terrifying.

Raul Garcia: Let’s remember that one of the biggest problems with horror cinema is showing too much. When horror turns into gore, when you show the monster, the killings, and the blood, it loses its suggestive powers. It loses part of what makes a horror film a horror film, which is that the images you see develop in your brain and you become the one imagining what you are not seeing on screen. You give the audience a bit of information, and he or she fills in the blanks with the most horrifying things they can think of. That was a key element I wanted to preserve. I didn’t want to make to make something very graphic, but instead maintain that mental introspection so that the viewer could put himself in that situation and imagine what’s happening.

In terms of the voice cast, you managed to put together and incredible cast including a voice from beyond the grave in a sense. The legendary Bela Lugosi returns thanks to your film. How did you obtain this recording?

Raul Garcia: It was a stroke of luck. I’m originally from Spain, so I’ve always read Edgar Allan Poe’s works in Spanish and at some point I wanted to enjoy the original material in English. For several years now I’ve been collecting narrated versions of Poe’s works. When I was getting ready to make “The Tell-Tale Heart, “ I discovered a recording of Bella Lugosi narrating this tale on Ebay. It was a cassette tape that was a copy of the original. It was the copy of the copy, of the copy, of the copy [Laughs]. When I finally got it the first thing I did was contact Bela G. Lugosi, his son who handles the Bela Lugosi’s state, and I discovered that this recording had never been published or released. Bela G. Lugosi didn’t even have in his archive, as it had been lost. Nobody had heard it and it hadn’t been exploited at all. I restored it as best as I could, but since I made that short in 2006 the technology was probably not as good as it's now. I tried to digitally polish it as much as possible to remove the static sound. But even though I wasn’t completely successful, I think that this static you hear gives the narration an unsettling quality. It sounds like something from another time that has returned after many years.

He was an icon in the horror genre, which makes it even more special for a film like "Extraordinary Tale."

Raul Garcia: Absolutely. This was the first short I did, so when I decided that it would instead be an anthology of several shorts, the bar was very high in terms of the voices that I could use. If the first one is someone as big as Bela Lugosi, who could be next? That pushed me to seek voices that meant something in the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror. The next short I made was “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and evidently Christopher Lee was the number candidate on my wish list.

How did you manage to get Christopher Lee to be a part of the film? "Extraordinary Tales" is the last film project he worked on before, unfortunately, passing away.

Raul Garcia: Unfortunately, as you point out, it's his last film appearance. But on the other hand, we were so fortunate to have his talent because it was really an incredible experience to work with him. It was very emotional for me, I was working with my childhood idol. It was great. When I recorded his voice, Christopher Lee was 89-years-old. He wasn’t very interested in revisiting horror cinema because at the time he was focused on becoming the lead singer of a heavy metal band [Laughs]. He was recording an album that was sort of like a heavy-metal-rock-opera based on the Charlemagne’s life. He was so passionate about it. It was hard to believe that an 89-year-old man had so much energy to do that. When I showed him the artwork he changed his mind and he agreed to do it. It was also funny that he didn’t want to go to a recording studio to do it. We set up a recording studio in his home so he could record it whenever he felt inspired.

Then you have Guillermo Del Toro, who has become Hollywood’s genre master working in horror, fantasy, and science fiction, and more recently in animation. How did he come on board?

Raul Garcia: Guillermo and I have been friends since the time he lived in Spain, and when I was searching for voices that were meaningful and important in the horror and fantasy genres he was high on my list. I know that deep inside Guillermo has a thing for acting, which he never talks about [Laughs]. I asked him to narrate the short and he agreed immediately. Then we had to chase him for a couple years because he has been extremely busy in the last few years, and we could never find the right time to do it. In the end we did it and Guillermo really gave it his all. His narration is very interesting and intriguing because it’s not the Guillermo we know. It’s a different facet of his talent that nobody knew about

Tell me about the process of creating the frame narrative in which Poe, in the shape of the iconic raven, has a dialogue with Death. This conversations connect the five major segments and give insight into the tormented mind of the artist.

Raul Garcia: I wanted to make a feature-length work and I didn’t like the idea of just putting one short after the other. It felt to me like it would look like a shorts program at a festival without any relationship between them, when in fact the relationship between them is Poe and his personal story. These interludes or framing segments where the last to be produced and at that point we were out of money, out of time, out of patience, out of everything [Laughs]. As I was working on each of the shorts the framing story that would unite them changed. Initially I wanted to unite the stories with this epic framing narrative where we would see the last day in Poe’s life as he went drunk from bar to bar until he dies. Then it changed to a story where Poe was lonely walking down the street towards the cemetery and finding different things that would remind him of his stories along the way.

As we got farther into production of the five major segments the framing narrative kept on changing and becoming shorter. In the end it became this dialogue between Poe and Death, which is like Scheherazade and the One Thousand and One Nights, where they tell each other stories. Poe wants to postpone his own death, while Death wants to convince him that if he is so miserable he might be better off dead. The biggest problem I faced, and which was truly a nightmare, is that as a viewer I don’t really like anthology films where there are connecting segments in between the stories, like George A. Romero's "Creepshow." As a viewer, when we get to the interludes or the framing narrative, what I’m thinking is, “Come on, Come, on, start the next story already!” [Laughs]. That’s why I really thought about the rhythm of these segments to try to precent the viewer from thinking, “I don’t want to see this. I want to see the next story.” I also wanted to give the viewer small doses of information needed for the whole story to make sense and for it to have structure.

Why do you think Edgar Allan Poe became so fascinated, even obsessed, with death and the darker and more disturbing aspects of the human condition?

Raul Garcia: Poe lived in a very romantic time. His life was the life of the typical tortured artist. His mother died when he was very young and his wife also died very young. In the Victorian era the health standards and life expectancy weren’t very high, thus death was a constant possibility lurking around. Besides this, his turbulent life turn him into a taciturn man with mental health issues. I think this really had an effect in the obsession he had with death. More than with death in general, he was obsessed with the possibility of being buried alive and discovering that he had to hold on to life even after death.

His work definitely set a precedent in the horror genre and in literature as a whole.

Raul Garcia: He was the first one to write horror stories. Without Poe probably Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t have been written because when Poe wrote the adventures of Dupin, like The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter, he was setting up the basis for what would become the detective novel. In a way Poe was a big influence for Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes. I think he really did influence many artist of the time like Baudelaire, who was a big fan of Poe, and who was the one that brought attention to Poe’s work in Europe. That’s how another generation of writers like Lord Dunsany, Ambrose Bierce, and many others were influenced by Poe’s stories.

Besides working in the U.S. you've worked in animated projects in Spain and Latin America, what's the most difficult aspect about creating animation in countries that are not necessarily seen as animation producers or that perhaps haven't fully developed the infrastructure for it?

Raul Garcia: I’ve worked in animation for a long time. I started in Spain and I wanted to make feature films. That desire to figure out how to make animated features brought me to the U.S. to work for Disney. Now things are different, in recent years technology has made it easier to make animated films than it used to be maybe 15 or 20 years ago. This has made it possible for the latent talents that are in countries without a tradition in animation to explore, learn, and create work. The biggest problem in countries that don’t have a tradition in animation or a film industry, is that precisely, that it’s not an industrial activity as it is in Hollywood where there are clear production procedures. Because of this we all become snipers making our films any way we can and crossing our fingers to get distribution so people can see them.

In a certain way working in animation has become very democratic because now anyone with the right technology can at least prepare a project from home in order to attract investors. Some people can even set up a small home studio and start working. Making features is much more complicated and expensive, but on the other hand, and thanks to this ubiquity and the decentralization of animation, anyone even in a small town can work with an animation program, stay in touch with people in other parts of the world, and manage to produce a film. That’s what we’ve done with "Extraordinary Tales,”although the film is a co-production between Luxembourg, Belgium, Spain and the U.S, in the end Mexican talent worked on it, people all over Spain worked on it, and even people in Honduras worked on it doing some modeling. With small teams across the world we managed to unite everyone’s talent to make the film.

"Extraordinary Tales" is finally opening in the U.S. Now that the cycle for this film is getting to its final stage, are you already working on your next project? Are you pursuing another horror writer to adapt into animation?

Raul Garcia: Independence can be tough. Without a studio to back you up, when you finish a feature and want to start a new project you have to start from zero. The next thing I want to do is to bring to the screen a novel by Cornelia Funke, she is also the voice of Death in “Extraordinary Tales.” She is a German author who wrote the novel “Inkheart,” which was made into a film a few years ago. The book I want to adapt is called “Young Werewolf,” but my version would be titled “Bitten." I’m still trying to find the initial financing that will allow me to get started and get things going. Once the initial financing is secured the rest becomes easier, and just like with “Extraordinary Tales,” we can make a film with the cooperation of several small studios. For example, another film I worked on was the Mexican animated feature “El Americano,” which was mostly made in Tijuana but also had teams in Puebla and Los Angeles. It’s possible, but you do have to have the financial infrastructure behind you so this can work. In the world of independent animation there are many projects that are never completed because they lack that structure.

"Extraordinary Tales" is now playing in L.A. at the Sundance Sunset Cinemas and In NYC at IFC Center.

Out now in select theaters and on iTunes is Extraordinary Tales, an animated film anthology adapting five Edgar Allan Poe stories and boasting a voice cast that includes late legends Sir Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi, as well as Julian Sands, Roger Corman, and Guillermo del Toro. For our latest Q&A feature, we caught up with director Raul Garcia to discuss his film's amazing vocal lineup and much more.

Thanks for taking the time to converse with us today, Raul. Based on the trailer for Extraordinary Tales, you obviously have a real passion for the works of Edgar Allan Poe. When did you first become a fan of his fiction?

Raul Garcia: Since a very early age, I was addicted to reading comic books and I especially loved horror comics. When I was 12 or so, I read Extraordinary Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, my first "grown up" book I ever read,...

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For the sake of simplicity, this list will zero in on Ya franchise-starters, films adapted from a young adult novel or with that audience in mind. There are plenty of more mature films that struggled such as Prince Of Persia: The Sands of Time, The A-Team...

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Based on historical facts and currently in post-production, it recounts the violent xenophobic riots in Rostock in 1992 from the perspectives of three different characters: a Vietnamese woman settled in Germany, a young hooligan involved in the night’s riots and his father, a local politician, trapped in the dilemma of advancing his career or standing up for his ideals.

Devid Striesow, Jonas Nay and European Shooting Star Saskia Rosendahl headline the cast of the film, which is a Ufa Fiction production in co-production with cine plus, Zdf and Arte.

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The winner

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I don’t think anybody foresaw it being quite this succesful and hats really do need to go off to Sam Mendes and everyone involved for such an impressive feat. Skyfall has currently taken £94.28 million and you wouldn’t put it past it to be the first film to break the £100million barrier in UK cinemas. Breaking Dawn Part 2 meanwhile, despite a hefty...

Sightseers | Great Expectations | The Hunt | Laurence Anyways | Rise Of The Guardians | Trouble With The Curve | Yossi | Alex Cross | Talaash

Sightseers (15)

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Great Expectations (12A)

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San Diego Comic-Con – Sunday, July 15

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Inkheart was released on Blu-Ray on June 23rd, 2009.

Photo credit: New Line

Brendan Fraser stars as Mo Folchart, a man who has the magical power...

In this incarnation of our Videolog column (which began in 1982 with VHS and Betamax), Starlog now posts information Tuesdays on the genre titles being released (or re-released) on DVD and Blu-ray. Prices listed are Msrp, though the clickable links lead to Amazon where the savings is significant. Here’s what’s out this week (mostly today):

DVD Releases for June 23, 2009

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