We've all heard the idiom "Take it with a grain of salt", right? Well, this next bit of possible (non) news has me a bit skeptical, but it's our duty to report on it as it pertains to rocker-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie and the popular THE HILLS HAVE EYES franchise.
Our pals at B-D came across an interesting but questionable bit of info regarding 31 director Rob Zombie's next project. It seems that IMDB has tossed up a new project titled THE HILLS HAVE EYES: THE BEGINNING, with Zombie penning the screenplay for the film which will be based on Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti’s graphic novel that tells the origin story of how the cannibalistic mutants became what they are, and who they were before the accident.
Another interesting thing that IMDB says is that this film will apparently be animated. Yep, an animated prequel. The site also lists Zombie (who directed the animated THE HAUNTED WORLD OF EL SUPERBEASTO) as one of the voices and executive producer. Here's the synopsis from the graphic novel:
“‘The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning’ tells the story of the original families who refused to leave their small New Mexico town once the U.S. government began above-ground atomic testing. Spanning multiple generations, this dark tale reveals how these once good people slowly devolved into murderous mutants.”
It needs to be pointed out that Dread Central reached out to Jimmy Palmiotti and he stated that he knows nothing about the project. It seems he'd certainly be in the loop if an adaptation was going down, but who knows? For now, I remain skeptical. Hopefully Zombie himself will confirm or deny this rumor soon enough.