Back in September of 2019, we reported that The Collected – the third film in the franchise that began with 2009’s The Collector (watch it HERE) and continued with 2012’s The Collection (watch that HERE) – had started filming in Atlanta. Genre legend Tom Atkins had a role in the film, and he told us that the first thing shot on The Collected was the twelve-page sequence that makes up the ending. Nearly five years later, that’s still all that has been shot for The Collected. Writer/director Marcus Dunstan and co-writer Patrick Melton previously revealed that production was shut down on The Collected after just eight days of filming… but it looks like this project is finally coming back together and moving forward again!
After the production shutdown, Dunstan and Melton stopped hearing from anyone involved behind the scenes. Attempts to get in contact with the producer who held the rights went unanswered. But now, while doing the press rounds for his new movie #AMFAD: All My Friends Are Dead (a slasher that’s set for an August 2nd release date), Dunstan confirmed to The Direct that the rights issues have been resolved. He said, “As of about four days ago, the legal elements holding it back were all alleviated. And it is coming back, I can tell you. Shout it loud and proud: The Collector is coming back. It is free. It is going to be a barreling freight train for your mind of fear. Yes, we can do it right!“
Now that Dunstan and Melton have the chance to get to work on a new and improved version of The Collected, “We’re not bringing it back until it’s something that we feel is the best one. And that we feel is in honor of the time we’ve been waiting because we haven’t been waiting on the bench just staring at the sky. We’ve been conceiving and concocting. Yeah, here it comes. And we want to honor this opportunity with something great.“
When filming began in 2019, Tom Atkins was joined in the cast of The Collected by Josh Stewart, Randy Havens, Dot-Marie Jones, Navi Rawat, and Emma Fitzpatrick. It remains to be seen if those actors will still be involved with the project when Dunstan gets it back into production, or if the footage shot five years ago will end up in the finished film.
Are you glad to hear that The Collected is finally going to happen? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.