House of Wax

By: Development Heck
Date: Monday, August 02, 2004

Genre:
Horror/Remake.

Studio:
Warner Bros.

Production Company:
Dark Castle Entertainment/Village Roadshow.

Project Phase:
Released.

Who's In It:
Chad Michael Murray; Elisha Cuthbert; Paris Hilton; Brian Van Holt; Jon Abrahams; Damon Herriman.

Who's Making It:
Jaume Collet-Serra (Director); Charles Belden (Original Story).

Premise:
Stranded in an isolated town, young adults are stalked by a killer and turned into lifelike wax mannequins.

Release Date:
June 30, 2005.

Comments:
There have been two film versions of this story before this latest one and all three are based on a play written by Charles Belden. The first film version was the 1933 picture MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, followed by the 1953 (and best-known production) HOUSE OF WAX. The latter movie starred Vincent Price as the murderous wax curator.

Scoop Feedback:

February 3, 2004... Spanish commercial director Jaume -- full name Jaume Collet-Serra -- has been selected to helm the remake of HOUSE OF WAX. The new WAX is a Dark Castle Entertainment production, in association with Village Roadshow and Warner Bros.

The original 1953 film starred Vincent Price as a co-owner of a wax museum. After a intentionally set fire destroyed his wax dummy collection, Price's character set about rebuilding his menagerie by saving time: he would murder helpless men and woman and then coat them with wax, then put them on display as new historical figures. The new assistant to the wax museum's curator begins to suspect that there's foul play about, but he doesn't have any proof. Can he find it before the fiend strikes again and takes the assistant's lovely girlfriend as his next model?

Jaume's resume of morbid, black humor ads may make him the perfect choice for a 21st century HOUSE OF WAX. In one of his commercials for 7-Up, a mermaid swims up to a fisherman and hands him a lost bottle of the soft drink -- before he nets her and puts the mermaid on display back at his home. [The Hollywood Reporter.]

February 17, 2004... Chad Michael Murray is the first announced cast member for the new HOUSE OF WAX movie. Murray, a regular cast member on The WB's ONE TREE HILL, will play one of a number of teens that are stalked by crazies that encapsulate their victims in a sheath of wax.

Other Murray credits include a role in FREAKY FRIDAY and runs in DAWSON'S CREEK and GILMORE GIRLS. [The Hollywood Reporter.]

February 23, 2004... Elisha Cuthbert, the blonde vixen from THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and who plays Jack Bauer's daughter on Fox's 24, may become the next cast member in HOUSE OF WAX. Cuthbert is in final negotiations to join Chad Michael Murray in the horror film, set to start filming in April down in Australia. [The Hollywood Reporter.]

March 11, 2004... First famous for being famous, blonde Paris Hilton is growing her body of work beyond what's on the Internet. The hotel heiress is in final talks to join the cast of Dark Castle's HOUSE OF WAX remake. If she closes her deal Hilton will join 24's Elisha Cuthbert and ONE TREE HILL's Chad Michael Murray in the film.

Hilton would play one of the young friends on the way to a college football game who stop at a small town and then start being killed by a wax figure maker. Filming on HOUSE OF WAX was originally scheduled to begin next month in Australia for an October release, but photography will now start in May. [Variety.]

May 14, 2004... Brian Van Holt (S.W.A.T., BLACK HAWK DOWN) has been cast as the villain in the remake of HOUSE OF WAX. Holt will play a madman that encases his victims in wax, whereas in the original 1953 film Vincent Price played the sinister part (who was also a wax museum curator.) Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murray, Paris Hilton, Jon Abrahams and Damon Herriman round out the cast.

Filming is happening right now in Australia. The movie is scheduled for an October release. [The Hollywood Reporter.]

June 28, 2004... On Saturday June 26, a fire erupted on the set of HOUSE OF WAX, presently filming at the Movie World studio complex on Australia's Gold Coast. According to one police report a large lit candle being used as a prop in the set of a bookshop set fire to nearby props and an uncontrolled fire quickly spread; however, another report blames the fire on overflowing wax that made contact with a burner. As 75 crew and cast members rushed to escape the blaze, some of the camera and sound equipment had to be left behind and was consumed by the fire.

By the time fire crews had arrived to contain the flames three sets from the film had been destroyed. Since the sets were made from flammable material such as polystyrene and wood, the fire spread fast. Thankfully no one was injured except for one individual that received treatment for a burn on his arm. Hotel heiress Paris Hilton was not on the set when the fire broke out; she has already completed her scenes and has returned to America.

The production was filming some of the final scenes for the movie when the fire occurred. As investigators sift through the destroyed material hoping to confirm how the fire started, construction on a replacement set has already begun. The filmmakers believe the fire will only setback filming on the project by a few days and will not intefere with plans to release the movie in October.

[Thanks to the two Australian readers that sent in the coverage of this story.]

July 29, 2004... Warner Bros. alerted us last week that HOUSE OF WAX, originally scheduled for an October release, would be pushed back until June 30, 2005. The recent fire that destroyed one of the sets came near the end of filming but was it sufficient enough to push the movie right back until next year? Maybe Warners likes the early results of the movie and that's why they're slotting it smack dab in the middle of the summer competition when ticket sales are usually higher. [Warners.]