This evening, the SXSW music and film festival announced their remaining 128 titles for their film portion of the festival, including 8 world premieres, one of which will be James Franco‘s The Disaster Artist, a narrative feature based on the making of the cult classic The Room.
The film features performances by Franco, his brother Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson, Ari Graynor, Jacki Weaver, and Alison Brie. The story is based off the Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room. The original film followed Johnny, a successful banker living happily in San Francisco with his fiancee. One day, she gets bored and decides she is going to seduce Johnny’s best friend Mark.
The Disaster Artist will be part of the festival’s “Midnighters” section which features genre films in the realm of horror, camp, and dark comedy. According to Senior film programmer Jarod Neece,
In this current political climate, genre filmmakers are more necessary than ever. They give us the chance to escape the horrors in our daily lives and spend some time in the dark, hallowed halls of the cinema. This year’s batch of Midnighters span the gamut of splatter horror, dark comedy, revenge, and satire, and explore mortality, sociopathy and survival. Ten films, eight world premieres from four countries, all ready to keep you squirming in your seats at Midnight!
See below for the rest of the Midnighters lineup:
68 Kill
Director: Trent Haaga, Screenwriters: Trent Haaga based on the novel by Bryan Smith
Chip’s problem is that he can’t say no to beautiful women. This weakness gets him into a world of trouble when he agrees to help his girlfriend steal $68,000. Cast: Matthew Gray Gubler, Annalynne McCord, Alisha Boe, Sheila Vand, Sam Eidson, Lucy Faust, Eric Podner, Peter James, Hallie Grace Bradley, James Moses Black (World Premiere)
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon: 10th Anniversary Screening
Director: Scott Glosserman, Screenwriters: David Stieve, Scott Glosserman
At SXSW in 2006 AICN’s Quint wrote: “…it just had its world premiere at the Alamo a few hours ago. I hope to see this one get picked up, but I guarantee this one will make it.” 10 years after its 2007 theatrical, the 35mm print returns to the fest! Cast: Nathan Baesel, Angela Goethals, Robert Englund, Scott Wilson, Zelda Rubinstein, Kate Lang Johnson, Britain Spellings, Bridgett Newton, Ben Pace
Game of Death (Canada, France)
Directors: Laurence “Baz” Morais, Sebastien Landry, Screenwriters: Laurence “Baz” Morais, Sebastien Landry, Edouard Bond and adapted by Philip Kalin-Hajdu
In the middle of small-town nowhere, seven friends are forced to kill or be killed when they play the Game of Death. When faced with their own mortality, will they turn on each other to survive? Cast: Sam Earle, Victoria Diamond, Emelia Hellman, Catherine Saindon, Nick Serino, Erniel Baez D., Thomas Vallieres, Jane Hackett (World Premiere)
The Honor Farm
Director/Screenwriter: Karen Skloss
After prom night falls apart, Lucy finds herself at very different kind of party… On a psychedelic trip that could be a dangerous trap. Cast: Olivia Applegate, Louis Hunter, Dora Madison, Liam Aiken, Katie Folger, Michael Eric Reid, Mackenzie Astin, Michelle Forbes, Josephine McAdam, Christina Parrish (World Premiere)
Lake Bodom (UK)
Director: Taneli Mustonen, Screenwriters: Taneli Mustonen, Aleksi Hyvärinen
Reconstructing a legendary campsite murder turns fatal when the girls decide to rewrite history. As night falls, turns out not all of them are there to play. It is a stylish twist on the survival horror concept. Cast: Nelly Hirst-Gee, Mimosa William, Mikael Gabriel, Santeri Mäntylä
Mayhem
Director: Joe Lynch, Screenwriter: Matias Caruso
After being framed for corporate espionage on the same day that a mysterious virus is unleashed on his company, attorney Derek Cho is forced to savagely fight tooth and nail for not only his job but his life. Cast: Steven Yeun, Samara Weaving, Dallas Mark Roberts, Caroline Chikezie, Mark Stewart Frost, Kerry Fox, Lucy Chappell, Steven Brand (World Premiere)
Meatball Machine Kodoku (Japan)
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Screenwriters: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Sakichi Sato
A long-awaited sequel to the internationally acclaimed full-throttle splatter sci-fi action horror Meatball Machine directed by Yoshihiko Nishimura, an acclaimed makeup artist and special effects designer (“Godzilla Resurgence”). Cast: Yoji Tanaka, Yurisa, Takumi Saito (World Premiere)
PIG: The Final Screenings
Director: Adam Mason
A savage satire of gender politics in America, Adam Mason is guaranteed to shock and offend with Pig. Created with actor and long time collaborator Andrew Howard, Pig is a virtuoso piece of pure cinema. Cast: Andrew Howard, Guy Burnet, Lorry Stone, Juliet Quintin-Archard, Molly Black (World Premiere)
Tragedy Girls (Canada, USA)
Director: Tyler MacIntyre, Screenwriters: Chris Lee Hill, Tyler MacIntyre, based on an original screenplay by Justin Olson
A twist on the slasher genre following two budding teenage sociopaths who use their online show about real-life tragedies to send their small midwestern town into a frenzy, cementing their legacy as modern horror legends. Cast: Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandra Shipp, Craig Robinson, Kevin Durand, Jack Quaid, Timothy V. Murphy, Nicky Whelan, Austin Abrams, Kerry Rhodes (World Premiere)
Two Pigeons (UK)
Director: Dominic Bridges, Screenwriter: Rae Brunton
A wide-boy estate agent unknowingly shares his home with a malicious tenant, one with a totally surprising agenda. Two Pigeons is a dark urban morality tale with an underlying streak of jet black comedy. Cast: Mim Shaikh, Javier Botet, Mandeep Dhillon, Kola Bokinni, Michael McKella (World Premiere)
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