The last year, we’ve seen wonderful filmmakers like John Waters, Todd Solondz, Spike Jonze, Charles Burnett, and John Sayles all having potential new projects fall by the wayside due to lack of funding.
The latest victim is Joe Dante, who recently turned 78, and was supposed to direct his first film in over 12 years. Dante teamed up with Roger Corman, who sadly passed away a few months later, on a reimagining of Corman’s 1960 classic “The Little Shop of Horrors; the film was to be titled “Little Shop of Halloween Horrors”.
Dante has now given us an update, and the project seems to have been permanently shelved (via The Direct)
“The word is ‘stasis,’ not status. At the moment, like so many things in town, nothing’s happening, and we always hope that will change, but it’s not the greatest time right now to [get] projects off the ground.”
Charles S. Haas, who had penned Dante’s magnificent “Matinee,” wrote the screenplay for “Little Shop of Halloween Horrors.” The source material was already turned into a 1986 musical, starring Steve Martin, but Dante’s film would have not beared much resemblance to that one and rather leaned more towards genre territory, much like Corman’s film.
Dante, an underrated, and gifted, genre filmmaker has such credits to his name as “Piranha,” “The Howling,” “Gremlins”, “The ‘Burbs,” and “Matinee” — the latter, his best film, and a lyrical ode to William Castle and 50s monster movies.
Dante deserves more recognition than he’s gotten over the years. His best films might have been commercial failures, but they’ve stood the test of time; His style is reminiscent of those wonderfully made B-movies from the ‘50s; filled with humor, sincerity and horror.
I also love how 1989’s “The ‘Burbs” has attained cult status in recent years. If there’s one film from Dante that I’d start with, it’s that one, featuring one of Tom Hanks’ most undervalued and subversive performances.