Bag of Bones movie news

BevVincent

Masters of Horror creator, and seasoned director of Stephen King adaptations, Mick Garris (Riding the Bullet, The Stand) is about to embark on a big screen version of King's '98 novel Bag of Bones.



In speaking to Fangoria Radio recently, Garris tells magazine editor Tony Timpone that it appears pal Joe Dante will helm Thirst - a remake of the Aussie vamp flick we were the first to tell you about here. Garris originally set out to direct that picture. "Bones," however, has been on Garris' to-do pile for some time and will take priority.



King's novel tells of Mike Noonan, a novelist grieving over the death of his wife who settles into their summer home, becomes embroiled in some nasty drama with a nasty local millionaire and falls privy to a series of hauntings.



Garris is attached as producer on Tobe Hooper's From a Buick 8.



>>> Source

BevVincent

Mick Garris discusses Bag of Bones with Fangoria.

Garris will direct, and executive-produce with Mark Sennett (who served in a similar capacity on Garris’ ABC version of King’s DESPERATION), with THE STAND’s line producer Peter McIntosh reprising those duties. The screenplay was written by Matt Venne (pronounced “vein,” by the way).



“What appeals to me about King in general and BAG OF BONES in particular is how human it is,” Garris continues. “The recent King stuff is very adult and very passionate, which I really respond to. I just love the idea of doing a grown-up ghost story.”

Lou_Sytsma

Great to hear the book is being filmed. Not enthused about Garris as the director. He peaked with the miniseries version of The Stand.

BevVincent

Stephen King: Filming soon at a northern Michigan location near you



Just a month after Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed the new film incentive law aimed at luring Hollywood to Michigan, a movie production company is scouting locations here for the next Stephen King movie.



Rick Hert, executive director of the West Michigan Tourist Association, confirmed Tuesday that he is assisting the State Film Office in finding a remote “time kissed” cabin on a lake, surrounded by tall trees, for King’s characteristic mayhem to be filmed. Hert put the word out to area realtors and the Leelanau Chamber of Commerce and was deluged with replies.



“We had just an outpouring of location offers,” Hert said. “I sent four locations that we think are strong, one that is very strong, back to the State Film Office and now we’re just waiting to hear back from the production company.”



Todd Stachnik said he submitted his family's Leelanau County cottage as a possible location because, “it would bring great publicity to the place and would help our community at large,” but hasn’t heard back.



The production does still have a hush-hush quality about it. When asked whether or not the leading location was in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, or Benzie County, Hert would only say, “Perhaps.”



Hert would say that the King work that was being made into a movie is his 1998 novel, “Bag of Bones.” The plot centers around a novelist with writer’s block who moves into his summer house, oddly named “Sara Laughs,” and is besieged by ghosts.



Gov. Granholm signed the film incentive package, which her office says is the most “aggressive” in the nation, into law April 7. Specifically, the new law provides a 40-percent refundable or transferable tax credit for producing films in Michigan, with an added 2 percent rebate for films produced in core communities.



The new law also provides a 25 percent tax credit for film and digital media infrastructure investments for such activities as building studios or purchasing equipment.

BevVincent

'Your' cottage could be the set of a Stephen King thriller



Coming to a cottage near you (or maybe yours): the set of a Stephen King movie about a novelist with writer's block whose summer house is besieged by ghosts.



The West Michigan Tourist Association has been seeking volunteers who'll give up their "time kissed" lakefront cabin in the trees for a few weeks for the filming of "Sara Laughs." The movie will be based on King's 1998 novel, "Bag of Bones."



According to an article in the Grand Traverse Business News, the Grand Traverse region may the leading contender for the film's set. Resident Todd Stachnik told the publication he submitted his family's Leelanau County cottage as a possible location because, "it would bring great publicity to the place and would help our community at large," but it's apparently one of at least four good possibilities that have been forwarded to the production studio.



But he may have more chances in the future, thanks to a new film incentive bill, signed by Gov. Granholm a few weeks ago to boost film production--and film-related tourism-in Michigan. One A-lister apparently headed for Michigan, thanks to the tax incentive, is Clint Eastwood, who apparently bypassed Minnesota for a story set in that state for Michigan's relatively better deal.

BevVincent

Director Mick Garris and producer Mark Sennet are planning to meet Tuesday with Gov. John Baldacci and other officials about the possibility of expanding financial incentives available from the state.



Maine film industry advocates say "Bag of Bones" will be a $20 million production, and half of the budget would be spent in Maine.



Filming could begin as early as this summer.



The novel is set in a lakeside summer home in a remote part of Maine where an author suffering from writer's block dredges up dark secrets following his wife's death.

BevVincent

More details:

Two men behind a movie based on Stephen King's 1998 novel "Bag of Bones" will be in Portland today to discuss the possibility of filming in Maine.



"Bag of Bones" director Mick Garris and producer Mark Sennet are scheduled to talk about their plans at a press conference at 4:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn on Commercial Street.



They are also scheduled to meet sometime today with Gov. John Baldacci and other state officials to explore financial incentives for the film.



Sennet, whose credits include a TV adaptation of King's 1996 novel "Desperation," said his production company would like very much to shoot in Maine, but won't be able to without greater incentives than those offered to filmmakers under the Maine Attraction Film Incentive program.



Sennet said his company would need a tax credit that would provide a savings of about 25 cents on every dollar spent. He said many other states have such programs.



"Bag of Bones" has a $20 million budget, and Sennet expects to spend $10 million wherever the film is made.



"We'd love to do it here. We're basically here to see if (state officials) want to do this," Sennet said. "If not, there are plenty of places we could go."



Sennet said Massachusetts has the kind of tax-credit program he is interested in. His company, Sennet Entertainment, has explored filming in the Bay State, as well as in Michigan, Louisiana and Georgia.



Set at a lake in western Maine, "Bag of Bones" is about a novelist dealing with his wife's death, a custody battle and a haunted house.



The fact that King is a lifelong Mainer will have little to do with whether the film gets shot here, Sennet said.



"We'd love to do the film, but we need to do it for a certain price," he said.



A call to King's Bangor office was not returned Monday.



Several of King's works have been filmed in Maine in the past 20 years, including: "Pet Sematary" (1989); "Graveyard Shift" (1990); "The Langoliers" (1995); "Thinner" (1996); and "Storm of the Century" (1999), a TV miniseries.



Sennet said he would like to shoot the film this summer. The movie has not been cast.



Sennet and Garris worked together on "Desperation" (2006), and Garris directed the TV miniseries version of King's "The Shining" (1997), as well as the miniseries of King's "The Stand" (1994).



The meeting with state officials today is expected to include Maine film industry advocates Cameron Bonsey and Barney Martin.



Bonsey, who was a local casting director for the HBO film "Empire Falls," shot in Maine in 2003, and Martin, a locally based actor, have long advocated for more state incentives to attract film and video projects to the state.



It was Martin who convinced Sennet and Garris to come to Maine to meet with state officials, Sennet said.



Bonsey said "Bag of Bones" is an example of the kind of film Maine could attract if more incentives were offered.



"We wanted to bring in a project that's real, instead of just talking about incentives in a general way," Bonsey said.



The state's current film incentive program includes a wage-tax rebate, an income-tax rebate for investors, no state sales tax on most production items, and reimbursement for lodging taxes for long-term stays.



Baldacci's deputy chief of staff, David Farmer, confirmed that the filmmakers had requested to meet with the governor, but he said Baldacci does not know what sort of incentives they are seeking.

BevVincent

Filming fizzles without funds



'Bag of Bones' filmmakers had sought a tax incentive to shoot in Maine, but the state can't pay for it.



The makers of a film based on the Stephen King novel "Bag of Bones" said Thursday they are "less likely" to film in Maine after a proposed state tax incentive for filmmakers died in the Legislature this week due to a lack of funding.



"We'll have to investigate other options. The film still takes place in Maine whether we film there or not," said "Bag of Bones" director Mick Garris. "All I can say is that I'm extremely disappointed. We were counting on Maine, but this is a big blow."



Garris and his partner, Mark Sennet, came to Maine in March at the request of local film industry advocates who have been promoting the idea of new tax incentives to entice film and TV productions to use the state for location shooting. King is a native Mainer and has a home in Bangor.



The two met with Gov. John Baldacci and told him they would like to film "Bag of Bones" in Maine during the summer or fall of this year, but would need major tax relief to do it. The film has a $20 million budget.



Rep. Thomas Watson, D-Bath, working with the Maine Film Office and local film industry advocates, proposed a bill that would grant tax credits to production companies spending more than $50,000 in Maine. The credits would range from about 10 percent to 20 percent of what the company spent.



Under the bill, specific credits would also be given to production companies filming in Maine counties where unemployment is highest, who use University of Maine system students in their productions, or who hire Maine workers.



The bill passed through both the House and Senate unchallenged. But when it got to the Legislature's joint appropriations committee this week needing $3 million in funding, committee members said the funding was not available.



The committee agreed to carry the bill over to the next session, which begins in January.



Baldacci supports the bill and would sign it if funding were available, said David Farmer, the governor's deputy chief of staff.



"Maybe we can find some private funding, or the economy will improve and we can find the money next year," Watson said. "It's too good a bill, and too many people worked hard on it, to just give up."



Film industry advocates who worked with Watson on the bill agree. They also agreed with Watson when he said the bill was not about "Bag of Bones" specifically, but about creating incentives that might help the state's economy far into the future by creating jobs and bringing in companies that will spend money here.



"This is just one project, and by the bill (not passing now), we won't be able to use 'Bag of Bones' as sort of an experiment to see how the incentives work, to see how competitive we can be with other states," said Cameron Bonsey, who helped organize the visit by Garris and Sennet and has worked in local film and TV production.



"So the process will be slowed, but it will continue. There are lots of things happening in Maine that show the film community is really coming together," he said.



Set on a lake in western Maine, the 1998 novel "Bag of Bones" is about a writer dealing with his wife's death, a custody battle and a haunted house.



Sennet and Garris also worked together to make the King story "Desperation" into a film in 2006. Garris directed the TV miniseries version of King's "The Shining" (1997) and the miniseries of King's "The Stand" (1994).

>>> Source

BevVincent

Mick Garris is back in Stephen King territory. The writer-director of The Shining, The Stand and Desperation - all telefilms - has provided Shock with an update on his long-mooted adaptation of King's 1998 novel "Bag of Bones."



Developed for some time by Garris, with screenwriter Matt Venne, "Bag of Bones" is now no longer set to hit the big screen. Instead, it's being turned into a television mini-series.



"We're finalizing our deal," says Garris, "and will hopefully be shooting late-spring, early-summer."



Where "Bag of Bones" will reside on the small screen is to be announced shortly. Venne, who worked for Garris on Masters of Horror and penned Dario Argento's entry, Pelts, has been in the process of adapting his Bones feature script into a mini-series format.



>>> ShockTillYouDrop

Lou_Sytsma

Fingers crossed but expectations falling.

BevVincent

While attending the Never Sleep Again signing event held this weekend at Dark Delicacies in Burbank, Dread Central had the opportunity to speak with Master of Horror Mick Garris who caught them up on what he’ll be doing next.



Turns out, Garris will be directing a four-hour miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s Bag of Bones which fans will be able to check out on network television sometime in 2011. The story centers around a writer who is haunted by the untimely death of his pregnant wife and when he returns to his summer home to face his fears only to find out that the his return may have not been what he needed to put his past to rest.



"Bag of Bones is something we tried to do as a feature for two or three years," Garris tells us. "But the way features are now, if it's not about teenagers or a sequel or a remake, forget it. We wanted to do something much more adult and passionate than studios are making now. It's a ghost story for grown-ups. Television is the only place you can do that."



Production on Bag of Bones is set to begin in June in Alaska. Garris also added that they will hopefully be casting their lead this week so stay tuned.



Check out the video of the writer/director talking about Bag of Bones as well as giving us an update on his FEARnet talk show, "Post-Mortem with Mick Garris".

BevVincent

Filming will take place in Nova Scotia this summer. Here's the first casting rumor:

With Mick Garris' adaptation of the Stephen King novel Bag of Bones going before cameras very soon, the first bit of casting news has slinked its way online and we have it for you right here! Dig it! Sea and Be Scene reports that Pierce Brosnan is set to star in the mini-series as Mike Noonan. Pretty nifty! Look for more casting news to come sooner than you think. We'll keep you posted.

>>> Source

jhanic

I really hope they do a GREAT casting job for both Mattie and Kyra. The wrong actresses for those roles could mess up the whole production. I can see Pierce Brosnan as Mike.



John

BevVincent

He would never have come to mind, but I like the casting. He was terrific in The Ghost Writer and The Tailor of Panama.

willowlove

The Pierce Brosnan casting is now official.  Annabeth Gish also has been cast, and the project is supposed to air on A&E late this year.



Source:  EW.com

BevVincent

Kelly Rowland in the cast, too. A four-hour, two night miniseries.



deadline

BevVincent

Australian actress Melissa George, whose credits include Grey's Anatomy and Lie to Me, will star opposite Pierce Brosnan in A&E's four-hour mini-series Stephen King's Bag of Bones.



George will play Mattie, the mother of a young child embroiled in a custody battle. Brosnan's widowed character, a novelist, winds up helping Mattie as she fights her father-in-law to keep her child. Anabeth Gish also stars in the miniseries, which is set to shoot in Nova Scotia, Canada.



Bag of Bones is based on a 1998 King novel, which has been adapted by Matt Venne for the mini-series. Mick Garris is directing.



George's other credits include In Treatment, Alias, Thieves and Roar. Bag of Bones will premiere on A&E in late 2011.

jhanic

I just Googled Melissa George. I just hope she can bring in the "innocent sensuality" that I envision for Mattie. She's certainly attractive enough.



John

Lou_Sytsma

Great cast even if the prinicipals are tad older than the roles call for. Don't believe I have seen Melissa George since her stint in Alias starting in the third season.

BevVincent

The Coast magazine from Halifax, NS reports:

Former James Bond and Irish-born leading man Pierce Brosnan has been seen in town, most notably at Steve-O-Reno's on Brunswick Street. He's here working on a mini-series called Bag of Bones, adapted from a Stephen King story. Though his licence to kill has been reassigned, Brosnan keeps making good choices with his career, recently appearing as a Tony Blair-esque politician in last year's Roman Polanski picture The Ghost Writer. If you run into him, mentioning his work in that picture might be a good ice-breaker.

He was apparently also spotted at the U2 concert in Moncton over the weekend. Cast members from Haven were in attendance there, too.

BevVincent

Filming is slated to begin today in Halifax on Stephen King’s: Bag of Bones, a two-part, four-hour horror miniseries starring Pierce Brosnan and Annabeth Gish.



The miniseries is based on a bestselling 1998 fantasy novel by King and is to be directed by Mick Garris (The Fly II) from a script by Matt Venne (White Noise: The Light).



Irish actor Brosnan, who will play Noonan, starred as James Bond in GoldenEye, Die Another Day, Tomorrow Never Dies and The World Is Not Enough. He also made a splash in the movie version of Mamma Mia! with Meryl Streep in 2008 and starred in The Ghost Writer in 2010.



Brosnan took in the U2 concert in Moncton on July 30 from the VIP tent and has been sighted around Halifax, including at The Bicycle Thief.



Gish, who made a splash in the 1988 film Mystic Pizza that launched Julia Roberts’ career, plays the dead wife, who shows up as a ghost. Other film credits include Beautiful Girls and Double Jeopardy. She has recently been seen on the TV series Pretty Little Liars.



Casting is still not complete, but local actors include: Deb Allen, Jeanine Morgley, Gary Levert, Glenn Lefchak, Genevieve Steele, Jim Swansburg, Charlie Rhindress and David Hughes, says production manager Valerie Halman.



The film is being produced by Michael Mahoney of Magic Rock Productions and is slated to film in and around Halifax until Sept. 28.



The Sony Pictures Television production has an estimated $15 million budget, according to IMDB.com, and is slated to premiere on A&E later this year.

Lou_Sytsma

Pretty decent budget, cast et al for a 4 mini-series.

BevVincent

[table][tr][td]Another actress has been thrown into the macabre mix that will be A&E's four-hour adaptation of the Stephen King novel "Bag of Bones" from director Mick Garris. Read on for the details!



According to Variety Anika Noni Rose (pictured right) has been cast in the upcoming miniseries alongside the previously announced Melissa George, Pierce Brosnan and Annabeth Gish. Rose will play Sara Tidwell, a blues singer who haunts the film's main character. She is a Tony Award winner for her role in "Caroline, or Change," had a guest performance as a politician in the most recent season of CBS' "The Good Wife" and co-starred in the bigscreen version of "Dreamgirls."



"Bag of Bones" centers on bestselling novelist Mike Noonan (Brosnan), who is unable to stop grieving after the sudden death of his wife, Jo (Gish).



A dream inspires him to return to the couple's lakeside retreat in western Maine, where he becomes involved in a custody battle between the daughter of an attractive young widow (George) and the child's enormously wealthy grandfather while dealing with mysterious ghostly visitations, ever-escalating nightmares, and the realization that his late wife still has something to tell him. Garris is directing from a script by Matt Venne.

[/td][td][/td][/tr][/table]

jhanic

She looks good for Sarah!



John

BevVincent

I agree. I wonder what part Kelly Rowland is/was supposed to play. I was thinking she'd be Sara.

BevVincent

Promo page at King's site