White Light: White Heat

The writer on board for the Near Dark remake is Matt Venne, whose feature script debut is still waiting for its U.S. release. White Noise (2005) was more (financially) successful than any of us probably remembered, grossing about $56 million on a $10 mil budget.

White Noise: The Light is a semisequel, sharing nothing with the original except for its star, electronic voice phenomena, in the title role. Second billing goes to Nathan Fillion, third billing to Katee Sackhoff (sequel work Halloween: Resurrection). Fillion's cult following should guarantee the flick a small boost, with a lot of folks who'd throw a few bucks down to rent anything with him in it, even if they're not likely to shell out to add White Noise 2 to the permanent collection.

The movie has shown theatrically in the UK and around the world from January through the summer, but it seems more likely to be a DVD release stateside. Its worldwide take is around $3 million so far; budgetary figures aren't currently available, but without Michael Keaton's salary to pay, you've gotta assume it's creeping up on its initial investment already.

White Noise 2 currently outranks its predecessor in IMDb quality assessment, with a 6.1 to the original's 5.3.