Pater Argentosus
(If this post seems familiar, check back a few days.)
News broke this morning that The Weinstein Company, after buying George Romero's Diary of the Dead, picked up another horror sequel after checking it out at the Toronto Film Festival: Dario Argento's The Mother of Tears (in its native Italian, La Terza Madre, or The Third Mother). Mother is the long-awaited third in Argento's Three Mothers trilogy, based loosely on Thomas de Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis (itself deserving of a mention on this blog, being a sequel to his better-known Confessions of an English Opium Eater). Suspiria de Profundis posits three Sorrows: Mater Suspiriorum (Mother of Sighs, portrayed in Suspiria), Mater Tenebrarum (Mother of Darkness, portrayed in Inferno), and Mater Lachrymarum (Mother of Tears).
Compared to the $2+ million paid for Diary of the Dead, the Weinsteins got a good deal, picking up Mother for somewhere in the mid-six-figures. This doesn't include theatrical release, which will be handled by partner Myriad Films. Myriad will offer a limited release early next year, which makes the Weinstein's Blockbuster-exclusive deal seem likely to prevent even more people from seeing it, as a widespread release seems unlikely. Diary may get around, but unless internet hipsters make "decrepit, hypersaturated witches" the new zombies, I can't see Mother of Tears playing Peoria.
And happy birthday tomorrow to Mother star Asia Argento!
News broke this morning that The Weinstein Company, after buying George Romero's Diary of the Dead, picked up another horror sequel after checking it out at the Toronto Film Festival: Dario Argento's The Mother of Tears (in its native Italian, La Terza Madre, or The Third Mother). Mother is the long-awaited third in Argento's Three Mothers trilogy, based loosely on Thomas de Quincey's Suspiria de Profundis (itself deserving of a mention on this blog, being a sequel to his better-known Confessions of an English Opium Eater). Suspiria de Profundis posits three Sorrows: Mater Suspiriorum (Mother of Sighs, portrayed in Suspiria), Mater Tenebrarum (Mother of Darkness, portrayed in Inferno), and Mater Lachrymarum (Mother of Tears).Compared to the $2+ million paid for Diary of the Dead, the Weinsteins got a good deal, picking up Mother for somewhere in the mid-six-figures. This doesn't include theatrical release, which will be handled by partner Myriad Films. Myriad will offer a limited release early next year, which makes the Weinstein's Blockbuster-exclusive deal seem likely to prevent even more people from seeing it, as a widespread release seems unlikely. Diary may get around, but unless internet hipsters make "decrepit, hypersaturated witches" the new zombies, I can't see Mother of Tears playing Peoria.
And happy birthday tomorrow to Mother star Asia Argento!
