Having created fierce lycanthropes for the Underworld films and blood-thirsty subterranean dwellers for The Cave, visual effects studio Luma Pictures takes on a different kind of beast for Primeval, Touchstone Pictures’ new horror movie that opens across North America today. The distributor has been shrewd in its marketing by not revealing who or what the movie’s killer is, and if you don’t want to know yet, don’t read on.
Touchstone hasn’t held any press screenings for Primeval, but word has gotten around that the pic centers on a 25-foot crocodile named Gustave, which, in real life, is rumored to have killed more then 300 people in South Africa and is still on the loose. The story centers on an American news crew that sets out to capture the prehistoric monster and bring it back alive. Led by actors Orlando Jones, Dominic Purcell and Brook Langton, the group runs into trouble when they cross paths with a nasty warlord before coming face-to-face with Gustave himself.
Primeval is directed by Michale Katleman, a TV veteran whose credits include episodes of Smallville and Gillmore Girls, among others. Luma handled the lion’s share of the digital creature effects for the production, which is actually filmed in the area the attacks allegedly took place. It is one of two killer crock flicks making their way to theaters this winter. The other is Rogue from Dimension Films and Wolf Creek director Greg McLean. Set in Australia’s Outback, that hungry-reptile-on-the-loose entry is slated to hit theaters on Feb. 2 and has been generating positive buzz so far.
Arriving in about a thousand fewer theaters than reigning box office champ Night at the Museum, Primeval has its work cut out for it as it attempts to dethrone 20th Century Fox’s vfx-laden Ben Stiller comedy, which just may stay on top for a fourth week. Other new competitors are Sony/Screen Gems’ urban dance flick, Stomp the Yard and Universal’s Alpha Dog, a true account of a kidnapping starring pop star Justin Timberlake.
Also, the MGM/Weinstein Co. release of Europacorp’s Arthur and the Invisibles rolls out across North America in wide release today. For more information on the live-action/aniamtion hybrid, go to https://www.dev.animationmagazine.net/wordpress/article.php?article_id=6342.
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