After a rumored bidding war even before its premiere during the “Midnight Madness” track of the 37th Toronto International Film Festival, Rob Zombie’s The Lords of Salem has finally clinched its U.S. distribution and that honor goes to Anchor Bay Films.
Written and directed by Zombie, helmer of House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects, the Halloween remake and its sequel, the movie stars his wife Sheri Moon Zombie as a Salem, Massachusetts radio station DJ named Heidi who is sent a record inside a wooden box which triggers flashbacks to the town’s violent past. It also stars Meg Foster, Ernest Thomas, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Torsten Voges, Bruce Davison, Billy Drago, Richard Lynch, Lisa Marie, Maria Conchita Alonso, Ken Foree, Barbara Crampton, Michael Berryman and Sid Haig.
You can read some Twitter reactions to the movie’s “Midnight Madness” debut here and the full press release below:
After much speculation and a heated bidding war, Anchor Bay Films emerged as the new home for Rob Zombies The Lords of Salem. Under the agreement, Anchor Bay will handle all U.S. distribution rights on the film. Written and directed by Rob Zombie, The Lords of Salem stars Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween) as well as Bruce Davison (X-Men), Jeff Daniel Phillips (Halloween 2), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Patricia Quinn (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), Dee Wallace (E.T.) and Judy Geeson (To Sir, With Love). The film premiered last week at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival and received rave reviews from mainstream and genre critics alike. Anchor Bay Entertainment President Bill Clark made todays announcement.
Were extremely excited to be working on this film with Rob, commented Kevin Kasha, Executive Vice President, Acquisitions and Co-Productions. Its a perfect fit for Anchor Bay.
I have always been a fan of the care and respect Anchor Bay has put into their genre titles, said Zombie. I cant wait to work together to bring this bizarre, special movie to the masses.
The Los Angeles Times dubbed The Lords of Salem his darkest most unnerving yet, IndieWire declared it Rob Zombies best film and Dread Central said fans couldnt stop talking about the film after its premiere in Toronto.
Rock star-turned-horror maven Rob Zombie conjures up a nerve-wracking chiller involving Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), a radio station DJ, who receives a wooden box containing a vinyl record, “a gift from the Lords.” She assumes its from a band trying to promote themselves. Heidi and others listen but unbeknownst to them, the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of Salem’s violent past. Is Heidi going mad or are the Lords of Salem returning for revenge on modern day Salem?
The deal was negotiated by Kevin Kasha, Marc Barson and Josh Thomashow for Anchor Bay Films and by Josh Braun of Submarine and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones for Alliance Films. Alliance Films financed the film which was produced by Andy Gould, Jason Blum, Oren Peli and Steven Schneider. Kavanaugh-Jones is the executive producer.
