S. Craig Zahler blew a lot of minds with his directorial debut BONE TOMAHAWK, a horror Western starring Kurt Russell and a tribe of cannibals. The news that came out of this past weekend's Texas Frightmare convention is likely to blow a lot of minds as well: Zahler's next horror project is a reboot of Full Moon's PUPPET MASTER franchise.
Zahler is writing the screenplay for PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH, which will be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian of di Bonaventura Pictures and Dallas Sonnier and Jack Heller of Caliber Media. Full Moon founder Charles Band will serve as executive producer on the reboot, which the producers are hoping will kickstart a whole new PUPPET MASTER franchise.
Said to be a new take on the concept that will retain the "brutally inventive puppet kills" and "comedic tendencies" of the Full Moon franchise, Zahler's script centers on
a recently divorced young man who discovers a mint condition Blade doll in his deceased brother’s closet and plans to sell the toy at a convention in Oregon celebrating the 30th anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders. All hell breaks loose at the Postville Lodge during the auction when a strange force animates all of the various puppets throughout the convention as they go on a bloody killing spree.
That definitely doesn't sound like any PUPPET MASTER movie that has come before. It's not clear how or if this project will affect Full Moon's plans for the franchise. Their sequel PUPPET MASTER: AXIS TERMINATION is supposed to go into production soon with Band at the helm, and I'm hoping it will remain on track.
Having made its debut on Fangoria, here is the PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH teaser poster: