Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group and Platinum Studios Inc. have commenced production on Dead of Night. This film is based on the best-selling Italian comic book series, “Dylan Dog,” created by Tiziano Sclavi and published by Italy’s Sergio Bonelli Editore. The comic book series has sold more than 56 million units worldwide and has been translated into 17 languages since its debut in 1986. Principal photography is taking place in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) stars as ‘Dylan’ – a reluctant private investigator who is drawn into the world of vampires, werewolves and the undead — and the film is being directed by Kevin Munroe, whose 2007 re-imagining of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles resurrected the billion dollar franchise.
Munroe brings a fresh take to the genre by focusing less on the transformation from human to non-human and more on the seamless interaction between the living and the undead. Writers Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly (Sahara, Conan the Barbarian) have taken the world of Dylan Dog out of a European setting and given it a New Orleans flavor with its rich bayou and marshland backdrop.
Platinum Studios and the Hyde Park Group are joined in the production with producer Gilbert Adler who is no stranger to comic book adaptations, having produced Superman Returns and Constantine for Warner Bros. The film reteams Adler with star Brandon Routh, who played Clark Kent. Adler has worked for many years in the thriller/horror genre as a writer, producer and director for numerous “Tales from the Crypt” television episodes and feature films. He has also produced House on Haunted Hill, Thirteen Ghosts, Ghost Ship and most recently, Valkyrie, his second stint with director Bryan Singer.
The producers have also hired Harvey Lowry and Academy Award-winning DRAC Studios to handle make-up effects. DRAC Studios has been nominated eleven times for Best Achievement in Makeup by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, most recently won for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and won twice before for Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mrs. Doubtfire.
Platinum Studios chairman and CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and Amritraj are producing with Adler. Executive Producers are Omnilab Media’s Christopher Mapp, Matthew Street and David Whealy, Cinemarket’s Peter Graves, The Greenberg Group’s Randy Greenberg, who brought all of the parties together, Hyde Park’s Patrick Aiello, Kevin Munroe, SAF Comics’ Ervin Rustemagic, Lars Sylvest and Film Production Capital LLC’s Will French and Stephen Roberts. Platinum Studios’ Brian Altounian and Rich Marincic are co-producing along with Hyde Park’s Manu Gargi.
