Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. Holy shit, this is good news. It’s good news because it sounds like material that will perfectly match the sensibilities of John Landis, a director I just plain dig. I know he’s been a punching bag for people in the past, and he’s certainly given people ammo over the years. But I don’t care. He seems to me like a guy who still has a lot of potentially good films in front of him, and in this case, I couldn’t be more interested. Having said that, I fucked up. I should have run this story last night, but I was working on something else, and I missed it. Tonight, I saw several e-mails with Landis or Gaines in the header, and I opened one in particular from a source who said “I tried giving you this scoop last night. Sorry about that. Here’s the VARIETY link.” And sure enough... here’s the VARIETY link. So I went and checked in the e-mail box from last night. And there it is. Which means I fucked up. But hopefully I’ll have more on this one for you in the future, and fingers crossed it comes together smoothly. Have they talked to Philip Seymour Hoffman for Gaines yet? I hope Landis aims high. It’s that good a role.
JOHN LANDIS TO "GHOULISHLY YOURS, WILLIAM M. GAINES" John Landis ("National Lampoon's Animal House," "The Blues Brothers," "Masters of Horror") has been attached to direct the authorized feature biopic, "Ghoulishly Yours, Wiliam M. Gaines." Landis will develop the project with Joel Eisenberg, who is penning the screenplay based on the life of the titular EC Comics' publisher ("Tales from The Crypt," "Mad Magazine" et. al.). Pic will revolve around the banding together of an anti-establishment group of artists and writers, led by a reluctant Gaines, as they produce their controversial yet hugely popular line of comic books. At the peak of his success Gaines becomes an unwitting First Amendment figurehead, defending his livelihood against the U.S. government amidst accusations of perpetuating juvenile delinquency. Landis most recently helmed "Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project" for HBO. Eisenberg is a partner in production concern EMO Films, LLC with Tim Owens and Eugene Mandelcorn.
