'Thing' prequel morphs into U maze

Mary Elizabeth Winstead assessments the One Factor: Assimilation maze at Universals Halloween Horror Nights. After trading yesteryear five years marketing other studios' movies, Universal is adopting its "Halloween Horror Nights" theme park franchise just like a marketing platform to hype its own films, beginning while using prequel for "The Main One Factor." With "Horror Nights" formally opening today and running mainly on weekends through Halloween, the thriller, starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton, can get its own elaborate maze in Universal's parks in Hollywood and Orlando. The characteristics typically don't share the identical mazes, though "The Main One Factor," they provided the very best. With 100s of thousands of site visitors buying tix to "Horror Nights," the studio saw the large event becoming an opportunity to spread the word in regards to the March. 14 release -- particularly with increased youthful moviegoers who may not always learn about John Carpenter's 1982 original -- also to take advantage from the company's various companies as promo platforms the way does having its Television stations. "We're very proud being the birthplace in the horror film genre and home of an amazing library of monsters," mentioned Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson. "Halloween Horror Nights is the greatest place introducing park site site visitors regarding the promises to become very frightening 'Thing.'?" Because regard, "The Main One Factor" maze -- which illegal copies the film's Norwegian camping, where several researchers finish up infected by an alien creature that could transform itself right into a precise replica connected having a living being -- can also be useful for an approaching press junket for your pic as well as the afterparty in the film's March. 10 premiere. A maze based on "Saw" was formerly useful for press junkets together with a goal for bonus features that came out on homevideo releases. "Horror Nights" producers labored carefully while using filmmakers behind "The Main One Factor" to copy the design of the creatures and takes hold the pic, directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Junior. "For filmmakers it's good there's a collection,Inch mentioned John Murdy, creative director, Universal Art galleries Hollywood. "Here's your movie sitting here several days following a sets are actually torn lower." "(But) the specific movie sets aren't useful in my opinion. How you build something for just about any movie together with a haunted attraction that thousands of people will walk-through are very different. When you're undertaking a film and you're simply doing practical effects they must work once. When you're getting the shot you're golden and not needing to concern yourself with it again. That same shot needs to utilize us each night.Inch Because of that, "The Main One Factor" producers Marc Abraham and Eric Newman of Strike Entertainment advised Alec Gilles and Tom Woodruff's effects shop Amalgamated Dynamics, which handled the film's makeup and creature designs, to make use of Murdy and also the team, including art director and production designer Chris Williams. Murdy's crew wound up engaging in Amalgamated's facility, "which was absolutely huge for people,In . Murdy mentioned. "Within the finish throughout your day, if you see the creature, you're seeing their work." Additionally they labored while using appear and music departments to get into within the film's soundtrack. Producers didn't stop Murdy from re-creating aspects within the film. "We asked for if there has been any creatures you wouldn't like us to accomplish and so they mentioned, 'Do these.A That's what we should did. There's not really a significant creature in this film we didn't cover in this attraction. That's very unusual." Formerly, that kind of exposure with an approaching pic for U wasn't possible, getting a film's release too definately not "Horror Nights" dates or perhaps the genre not fitting the event's intended fear factor. U happen to be considering a maze just like a promo due to its update on "The Wolfman," but chosen not to when the film's release date moved from fall 2009 to February 2010. But another factor is awareness. "We look into from box office for the fanbase for just about any film," Murdy mentioned. "You need to use characteristics people know." For example, "Friday the thirteenth," "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" were featured in the past, with "Friday" and "Nightmare" produced in three other ways to take advantage of the originals, sequels and remakes. Murdy wanted "The Main One Factor" because the original Kurt Russell starrer retains a substantial fanbase. But more youthful crowd loved the brand new pic can be a prequel. "The producers truly developed a prequel," Murdy mentioned. "This is among the Norwegian camping alluded to inside the original film." "Horror Nights" starts with tonight's Eyegore Honours, situated by Corey Feldman. Rock-horror icon Alice Cooper, David Arquette, Rainn Wilson, Jamie Kennedy, Bailee Madison ("You Should not Panic from the Dark") and Emma Bell ("Final Destination 5") can get kudos. 5 other mazes built alongside "The Main One Factor: Assimilation" are "Eli Roth's Hostel: Hunting Season," "Alice Cooper: Thank you for going to My Nightmare," "Make the most of Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses: In 3d ZombieVision," "La Llorona: Apartment P Almas Perdidas" ("The Weeping Lady: Village in the Lost Souls") imagined by Diego Luna, and "Wolf Guy: The Curse of Talbot Hall." "Scream 4" can also be the theme in the studio backlot tram tour, with site visitors dealing with four different film sets creating the parody pic "Stab 8," suggested inside the pic. Contact Marc Graser at marc.graser@variety.com