Several internet sources are reporting that Mark Pellington is in “advanced talks” to replace Larry Fesenden as the director of the English language remake of THE ORPHANAGE at New Line.

Pellington directed THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES, ARLINGTON ROAD and U2 3D.

GDT is serving as producer on the remake.

Director Larry Fessenden told Arrow In The Head that he is most likely off the ORPHANAGE remake project. A difference of opinion in casting and “direction” seems to be the reason:

THE ORPHANAGE was two years of waiting. Working on the script with Guillermo was a very exciting experience, but then I got into a casting miasma and that’s where the thing is; I think they’re gonna do it another way, actually. So I think I’m out of it. Hopefully they’ll still use my script, but I’m not sure I’m directing it anymore. That’s Hollywood for ya.

That’s a shame. If true, I would prefer to see the remake produced with the screenwriters’ original vision entact.

  

I FINALLY saw The Orphanage (hold your applause until the end, please.)

Wow, what a haunting film. I can’t think of a movie I’ve seen recently that touched so many emotions in me. Maybe PAN’S LABYRINTH was the last. This film held true to my expectations of a creepy ghost story – but it delivered so much more. In the last twenty minutes, the film elevates itself above the typical haunted ghost story into a work of art depicting insanity, fear, grief, and hope. This is a very powerful film.

****** SPOILERS *********

A couple of notes:

I’ve noticed that ever since I’ve become a father, it is much more difficult for me to watch a young child die on screen. It is especially difficult for me when the child dies alone – as was the case with Simon. The vision of Simon – dead on the cold floor of that basement – haunts me still this morning.

Also, it bothered me that Laura committed suicide. I just felt it cheapened her story – a convenient plot device, but not something that I held entirely true to her character. After all, Simon was going to die anyway at some point – that was clear from his illness. And it bothers me when seemlingly noble characters take this “selfish” route (it rarely seems like a tragic act to me anymore). Laura gets rewarded for killing herself by reuniting with her son and finding happiness. I would have preferred an ending where Laura simply died from grief. That is a more tragic ending to me, and a much more noble death.

I made a painful admission to some friends on the DTF boards not too long ago – I haven’t seen THE ORPHANAGE.

Their response:

WHAT?? YOU?? MR. DELTOROFILMS??

I know – it is sick. And you’ll really think I’m weird after I tell you why…

First of all, I have a legitimate reason why I missed it in theaters. I wanted to take my wife to see it, so we scheduled ahead – two weeks after the U.S. release date. Got a babysitter and everything, then – POOF – it was gone. Just like Kaiser Soce. Can’t imagine why it was out of my local theater so soon. Actually, I can – the word “Foreign Film” is a bad word to theater owners.

So I missed a chance to see it in the theater – but its been out on DVD for a while now, right? So what’s the problem?

Here’s the thing – I’m not obsessive compulsive. Not much anyway. I mean, sometimes I obsess about germs, but just little stuff, like when I exit a bathroom, I grab the most uncommon part of the door handle possible to avoid bathroom germs. That’s not that weird, is it? Some people open a bathroom door using a paper towel – or worse, I’ve seen people flush a toilet with their foot (Gross!! Don’t they know that if you are at a urinal, you are likely to be standing in urine drippage prior to said foot flush??)

Anyway, here is my other obsessive compulsive tendancy – I HAVE TO WATCH MY NETFLIX MOVIES IN THE ORDER THEY ARE ADDED TO MY QUEUE.

Let me explain to those of you who don’t subscribe to Netflix. You select movies you want to watch from their website. Those movies go in a queue in the order that you select them – each new movie you select goes to the end of the queue. Then Netflix mails them according to your queue order.

So when I put THE ORPHANAGE in my Netflix queue, there were other movies in front of it! I have the option of moving THE ORPHANAGE to the top of my queue, but I CAN’T DO IT!! Something holds me back – it is as if shifting my queue order will rain down fire and chaos into my movie watching world. I can’t explain it. But alas, it has greatly delayed my ORPHANAGE viewing – a review will come soon…right after I watch BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: RAZOR, THE MIST, MICHAEL CLAYTON, and FUTURAMA THE MOVIE: BENDER’S BIG SCORE.

I’m sure many of you out there have quirks like this – please share them!

April 22nd will be the US DVD and Blu-Ray release of THE ORPHANAGE. The picture will be in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, with audio in Spanish in Dolby Digital 5.1 EX track (English subtitles).

Producer Javier Soto sent us this list of special features that will be included:

• When Laura Grew Up: Constructing THE ORPHANAGE
• Tomas’s Secret Room: A series of companion video pods explore topics touched upon in the main documentary
• Neophytes: The Director and his Team
• Believe And You Will See: Art Direction
• 200: VFX
• Ready, Set, Rip: Title Sequence Deconstruction
• Horror In The Unknown: Make-Up Effects
• Rehearsal Studio

    

Head over to the Picturehouse’s website for The Orphanage to check out some cool new online videos. Included are:

• Director J.A. Bayona on audience reation to “The Orphanage”
• Director J.A. Bayona on GDT’s involvement
• Screenwriter Sergio Sanchez on horror and the fear of loss
• GDT on challenges of producing horror films
• GDT on “The Orphanage” lead actress Belen Rueda
• GDT on casting Simon
• GDT on the end of “The Orphanage” (spoiler-free)
• GDT on new voices in horror
• GDT on what it means to “present” a movie
• GDT on “The Orphanage” screenplay

Here are the release dates for The Orphanage across the United States. You can look for theater times at Fandango.

Now Playing
Chicago
Austin, TX
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
New York
San Francisco

January 4
Atlanta
Seattle
Washington DC

January 11
Boston
Buffalo
Charlotte
Denver
Detroit
Indianapolis
Jacksonville
Kansas City
New Haven
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Portland OR
Salt Lake City
St. Louis
and more!

From the Guardian Unlimited:

The Orphanage, a dark fantasy tale produced by Mexico’s Guillermo del Toro, and the historical drama Thirteen Roses are leading the fields at the Goyas, Spain’s equivalent to the Oscars. Both films have been nominated for a record 14 gongs, including best film. The Orphanage tells the story of a mysterious institution where a boy makes an invisible friend, while Thirteen Roses tells the story of three young women who were shot dead in the dying days of the Spanish civil war. The Goyas will be handed out on February 3 in Madrid.

The Orphanage is in theaters in the U.S. starting December 28.

The CHUD website is sponsoring a sneak preview screening of THE ORPHANAGE on Thursday, December 27th, at 7:00 pm at a Manhattan theater. They have 100 admit-two tickets to give out, so here for more information.

To view the film’s official website, click here.

You can now view the new trailer for “The Orphanage” at Yahoo!. Click here.