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 after the jump:
September 16, 2012
TORONTO, ON 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.
About Alliance Films
Alliance Films, Inc. is one of the top five independent filmed entertainment companies in the world. A leading multinational distributor, co-financier and producer of filmed entertainment, its member companies, Alliance Films and Alliance Vivafilm (Canada); Momentum Pictures(UK) and Aurum Producciones (Spain), offer integrated delivery of content in all media. Strategic partnerships include exclusive distribution rights to films from Focus Features, Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company, and CBS Films in Canada; Relativity Media in Canada and the UK and Summit in Spain as well as ongoing relationships with FilmNation Entertainment, Exclusive Media, IM Global, Lionsgate International, Wild Bunch, ConstantinFilms, EuropaCorp and Nu Image in all three territories.
About Anchor Bay Films
Anchor Bay Films is unique in that it offers the creative community a fully integrated distribution capability on all platforms and an international solution extending beyond the U.S. Anchor Bay Films is a division of Anchor Bay Entertainment and is on the ground providing quality distribution with operations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, as well as distribution capabilities in other key territories. The company focuses on a platform release strategy for its films with an eye toward maximizing their potential across all ancillary distribution platforms. Upcoming theatrical releases include 10 Years starring Channing Tatum and Rosario Dawson. Recent theatrical releases include High School starring Adrien Brody and Colin Hanks and Seeking Justice starring Nicolas Cage, January Jones and Guy Pearce. Films in its library include the critically acclaimed comedy City Island starring Andy Garcia and Solitary Man starring Michael Douglas as well as the 2011 releases of Kill the Irishman starring Ray Stevenson, Vincent DOnofrio, Val Kilmer and Christopher Walken; Toronto Film Festival award-winner Beautiful Boy with Maria Bello and Michael Sheen; and Cannes 2011 premiere Cormans World. Anchor Bay Entertainment is a subsidiary of Starz Media, LLC, which is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation.
