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Chloe Moretz In Talks To Star In 'The Rut' For 'Jennifer's Body' Director Karyn Kusama

Posted 7/30/10 8:48 am EST by in News


"Jennifer's Body" divided critics and audiences alike, but director Karyn Kusama remains one of the sharper filmmakers out there. She's in the midst of lining up her next effort, titled "The Rut." It sounds like a much more grounded story than her most recent films: when a young girl's father goes missing, she must put the hunting skills he taught her to use in trying to track him down.

As with "Body," which starred Megan Fox, Kusama has attracted a high-profile leading lady for her young hunter. The Los Angeles Times reports that Chloe Moretz is in talks to star. Moretz is enjoying quite the breakout year; she impressed the hell out of just about everyone with her performance in the May comic book flick "Kick-Ass" and she's on track to do that again in Matt Reeves' upcoming "Let the Right One In" remake, "Let Me In." Kusama's films all feature powerful lead female roles and Moretz, young though she may be, fits the bill perfectly.

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Rachel Weisz Says She'll Play 'A Man Who Turns Into A Woman' In Karyn Kusama's 'The Invisible X'

Posted 5/5/10 1:49 pm EST by in News


Back in September we heard about an intriguing project that "Jennifer's Body" director Karyn Kusama has had her eye on for some time. The pitch doesn't have a title, but it is described as a "[David] Cronenberg-inspired body horror" tale focusing on gender issues and the intent is for the movie to star Rachel Weisz.

MTV spoke with Kusama shortly afterwards, and she spoke a little more about the plans. She's been trying to secure funding for it for almost a decade now, but the idea is for Weisz to play "two characters, or essentially two halves of the same character, but she is both male and female." We recently spoke with the actress, who will star in "Agora" this summer, and she gave us an update on where things are at for the project. Read More...

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Kanye West Won't Quit, 'Jennifer's Body' Down, Not Out And Unseen Horror Around The Blogosphere

Posted 9/21/09 2:00 pm EST by in Around the Blogosphere


-- Oh Kanye West. You reap what you sow, that's all I can say. You stepped all over 19 year old Taylor Swift's MTV Video Music Awards win -- her first one -- and now you're being dragged through the mud for it. The latest serving of Kanye-related hilarity comes from Sci Fi Wire, with some doctored images of the shamed rapper popping in to interrupt a variety of serial sci-fi/fantasy series'. I've got to say though, I'm surprised "Fringe" is absent. (Sci Fi Wire)

-- Readers on the Internets love themselves some lists. Love 'em. We like to indulge here on MTV Movies Blog as much as any other outlet, but I have to give it up to TotalFilm for their latest effort: 20 Greatest Horror Films You've Never Seen. They're on target too-- I've never seen a single one. (TotalFilm) Read More...

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'Jennifer's Body' Director Karyn Kusama Offers More Details on her Rachel Weisz Project

Posted 9/21/09 12:00 pm EST by in News


Last week "Jennifer's Body" director Karyn Kusama dropped a few hints to super sci-fi site io9.com about her pet project starring Oscar winner Rachel Weisz, which has yet to find funding. She said, "there's a screenplay I wrote a while ago with a partner that has a sort of element of horror, although I would call it a psychological horror in the David Cronenberg tradition, that I'm trying to get made."

In a recent interview with MTV, Kusama cited David Cronenberg, the director whose specific type of creepy-crawliness is often referred to as body horror, as "a really important influence, or just an important role model as a creative force." Although Cronenberg's more recent works like "A History of Violence" and "Eastern Promises" veered more towards the mainstream, there's no doubt his earlier work like "Videodrome," "Dead Ringers" (Kusama's favorite), and of course the remake of "The Fly" tapped into our fears of mutation and other types of organic monstrousness. Read More...

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'Jennifer's Body' Director Karyn Kusama On Women In Hollywood, Diablo Cody And Outsiders

Posted 9/18/09 4:00 pm EST by in News


When "Juno" first came out, there was a frenzy over Diablo Cody. It didn't hurt that Cody was as much a part of the marketing process of the movie as any of the stars: an outspoken, gorgeous writer who has never been afraid to talk about feminism, being a stripper or anything else on her mind. The backlash was soon to follow, and grew stronger after she won an Oscar for her screenplay for "Juno." Now movie-goers and critics have such a love/hate relationship with the writer that they'll either support her in any endeavor or avoid anything she's touched. A big part of that is the way she writes, a particular and peculiar language that doesn't always jibe with some sensibilities.

Her script for "Jennifer's Body" is no different, of course. "Do you have a tampon?" asks Jennifer (Megan Fox) at one point. "You look like you might be plugging." Of course, it wasn't so long ago that people were telling each other, "Great pate, mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that funeral," as in "Heathers," or "Rise up in the cafeteria and stab them with your plastic forks!" from "Pump Up the Volume," or "I'm Audi" from "Clueless." Read More...

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Kurt Loder Reviews 'Jennifer's Body'

Posted 9/18/09 3:30 pm EST by in Reviews


FROM MTV.COM: Just as he's about to rip the beautiful Jennifer's tightly bound body to shreds with a knife, hunky young Nikolai tries to tell her why. Nikolai is the lead singer of an indie band called Low Shoulder. They're desperate to make it big — to be the next Maroon 5! But the world is awash in indie bands, so it's hard. "There are so many of us," he says, "and we're all so cute. ... Satan is our only hope." In the group's quest for diabolic new management, Nikolai has downloaded a Satanic ritual off the Internet. All that's required is a virgin sacrifice. Unfortunately, he's picked the wrong girl: Jennifer's days of sexual innocence are far behind her. ("I'm not even a backdoor virgin," she later admits.) So the ritual goes seriously wrong. Instead of leaving Jennifer dead, it transforms her into a snaky-eyed, flesh-eating demon. Oops.

Continue reading 'Jennifer's Body': Girl Trouble, By Kurt Loder

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'Jennifer's Body' Is Strong Enough For A Man, But Made For A Woman

Posted 9/18/09 3:00 pm EST by in News


When I left the screening of "Jennifer's Body," I turned to my bestie and high-fived her. Why? Because this movie is for us girls. It's strong enough for a man, but made for a woman. And lucky me, I got to talk to the director of "Jennifer's Body," the eloquent and outspoken Karyn Kusama, about the movie, why it's made to speak to young women, Diablo Cody and so much more. In fact, our Q&A was so yummy it's being split up into three parts, so be sure to keep your peepers peeled for more "JB" goodies and even some details on Kusama's next project, which sounds like a doozy!

Many women were turned off by the initial red band trailer for "Jennifer's Body," which featured a sexy lip lock between Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried, among other instances of typically tantalizing shots of Fox being foxy. Unfortunately, that type of stuff is usually not up to the folks behind the movie; it's up to the marketing people instead. Read More...

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'Jennifer's Body' Director Karyn Kusama Eyes Rachel Weisz, Body Horror For Her Next Project

Posted 9/15/09 11:00 am EST by in News


I'll admit, I feel a little bit bad for Karyn Kusama. Between star Megan Fox and Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, the "Jennifer's Body" director has kind of been overshadowed by the super-team she's assembled. Still, the comedy/horror flick which hits theaters this Friday is looking very entertaining, and Kusama has a lot to do with that.

I'm excited then to hear talk of her potential next project, a "[David] Cronenberg-inspired body horror" tale focusing on gender issues. Rachel Weisz is attached, but that's all Kusama would say. The project isn't even necessarily a go just yet; as Kusama tells io9, "let's hope that some day it finally gets some money." Read More...

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