Neil Marshall is a director who becomes attached to a lot of projects. After cult classics like DOG SOLDIERS and THE DESCENT catapulted him to the forefront of great new genre movie directors, his work on “Game of Thrones” and “Constantine” subsequently made him a go-to helmer for high-profile fantasy television.
But, like so many fine directors before him, it seems as though only a small portion of the movies he develops actually make it to the production stage. It’s the nature of the Hollywood beast, unfortunately.
Two of the bigger movies Marshall’s name has been attached to are the TROLL HUNTER remake (announced last year) and the Dracula tale THE LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER (announced in 2012). There has been precious little information about these movies since their initial announcements, leading many of us to wonder if they were just two more victims of development hell.
Having just gotten off the phone with Marshall (full interview coming soon), I can tell you that, in his eyes, these movies are still kicking. When asked what their status was, Marshall responded thusly:
These projects are very much alive. It’s that thing where, at some point, something will click into place and it’ll happen. You kind of got to stick with them as long as you can. I’m still very, very passionate about doing Troll Hunter and Last Voyage of the Demeter. They’re great projects. I’m sticking with them, so fingers crossed we’ll get to see them one day.
After I expressed my interest in LAST VOYAGE OF THE DEMETER in particular, Marshall responded with much enthusiasm for the pic.
Yeah, I’ve got a good twist on it. It could be a really awesome project, very great. It’s very scary.
There you have it; don’t scratch either of these titles off your “most anticipated” list just yet. Now if only the powers that be would get cracking on allowing Marshall to make them.
In the meantime, Marshall is not just standing idly by. He just directed a short for the horror anthology TALES OF HALLOWEEN, he’ll be making a film for Blumhouse Productions in March, and he’s also developing his own TV series.