Frederick Fronkensteen sent in the following update from inside the camp of EATERS OF THE DEAD / THE 13TH WARRIOR. This guy is 100% on the level and parting on the square, so Frederick knows his stuff. Here's his report...
1. As of Friday, the release title is STILL "Eaters of the Dead." To put it mildly, both Crichton and John McTiernan are quite fond of the "original" title. Of course, Disney can ultimately call it whatever they want.
2. Actually, it tested so WELL that Disney thinks it has a chance to compete with "Godzilla" and has asked for ADDITIONAL photography (NOT reshoots) to clarify a few points in the story. Moreover, we'll be shooting all of the new footage in the Los Angeles area.
3. The cost of the film was ALWAYS much more than announced. Disney is very uneasy about being associated with such a high-budget feature.
4. Omar has a prominent role during the beginning of the film.
5. Antonio WILL NOT make himself available for additional photography until he is done directing Melanie's picture. That pushes the start date for the new footage to July 6th. (So most of us will be elsewhere and unable to join in the "fun.")
6. That doesn't matter much because... there was a big meeting at Disney over the weekend where it was decided that "Eaters" has MAJOR possibilities of being a big hit. Sooooo, it is being held for a November 25th release.
7. All this pushes "Airframe" (another Crichton/McTiernan teaming) until next January(!).
Harry here, well that looks like ol Eaters of the Dead is going to go heads up against STAR TREK 9.
