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When the big-budget sci-fi/boxing flick hybrid "Real Steel" brawled its way into theaters on October 7, 2011, it was ridiculed by some as "Rock'em Sock'em Robots: The Motion Picture." On one hand, the $110 million-budgeted film's blockbuster pedigree of star Hugh Jackman and director Shawn Levy did little to suggest the film was anything more than this. But anyone who grew up gorging on Rod Serling's original run of "The Twilight Zone" in syndication or reading the novels and short stories of Richard Matheson knew there was more to "Real Steel," at least in theory, than family friendly mechanical mayhem.

Obviously, with that budget, Disney (which distributed the DreamWorks production) wasn't going to sell the film primarily on its connection to a nearly 50-year-old black-and-white television show. As for Matheson, while he's considered a god of 20th century sci-fi/fantasy/horror literature by publishing heavyweights like Stephen King and Neil Gaiman,...

The last 70 years of science fiction, horror, and fantasy wouldn't just look remarkably different without the works of Richard Matheson, they'd be comparatively barren. Okay, this is a touch hyperbolic, but only a touch! Yes, we'd still have the transporting, thought-provoking works of maestros like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and so many others, but could you imagine living in a world sans such essential tales as "The Incredible Shrinking Man," "I Am Legend," "Hell House," and dozens upon dozens of eerily prescient (or just straight up horrifying) short stories? And these weren't just spellbinding reads. They formed the basis for many memorable movies, and, perhaps most influentially, 16 unforgettable episodes of "The Twilight Zone."

Countless writers and filmmakers have cited Matheson as crucial to their development as genre storytellers (Stephen King considers "Hell House" to be "the scariest haunted house novel ever written"), and you could argue that...

Superman: The Animated Series is widely credited for popularising Superman among a wider audience. The series, which aired from 1996 to 2000, smoothly modernized the character as the animated series allowed the creators to explore different ideas. However, in one particular episode, they went too far.

Superman: The Animated Series

The two-part “Little Girl Lost” episodes from season 3 of the show initially had a very different setting, which would be dark for a show that aired on Kids’ WB. Writer Evan Dorkin once explained how the second half was changed at the last minute because the episode had a Nazi concentration camp-style setting.

In the two-part episode, Granny Goodness transforms innocent teenagers into soulless Parademons. Dorkin explained that one of the producers opposed this idea and they had to change the whole plot.

A Superman: The Animated Series episode was changed at the last minute for being too controversial Superman: The Animated Series...

Disney's Tower of Terror has always felt like a thrilling outlier at any Disney park. Opened in Florida in 1994, the "Twilight Zone"-inspired thrill ride was always a little scarier than the rest of the Mouse House's family-friendly theme park attractions -- in a good way.

California's Tower of Terror may have had its last ride, but the attraction remains a landmark of Disney parks across the world, with additional versions in Tokyo and Paris. As with any Disney ride, a whole lot of thought went into the original planning of the attraction, and in the case of Tower of Terror, Imagineers were actually required to become classic TV binge-watchers. According to the official D23 website, everyone who helped design the Tower of Terror watched all 156 episodes of Rod Serling's seminal anthology series at least twice.

Imagineers looked even closer at certain "Twilight Zone" episodes, studying the music, props,...

Everyone has a favorite Disney theme park ride, and if it isn't the Tower of Terror you are objectively wrong. Okay, it's not the most inventive attraction mechanically speaking; indeed, drop-shaft rides of this kind were passing out of fashion when it opened on July 22, 1994. But the Tower of Terror was a drop with a difference. It was a tie-in to "The Twilight Zone."

There was also an important technical wrinkle to the Tower of Terror. As visitors are shot upward through the spooky Hollywood Hotel (on their way to the 130-foot peak), the car occasionally stops and moves out of the shaft as a means of immersing passengers in Rod Serling's Fifth Dimension. It's a gloriously disorienting experience that's as close as anyone will come to that "wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination" outside of getting cast in an actual "Twilight Zone" episode.

And one...

Between 1959 and 1964, there wasn't a more consistently brilliant show on television than Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone" — an accomplishment that's all the more amazing given its anthology concept. Every episode offered a completely new story, often in a completely different genre, from an occasionally different writer. Sure, the rotating staff was a murderer's row of scribes that included Serling, Richard Matheson, and Charles Beaumont, but, good as they were, they didn't have the safety net of writing for the same characters every time out. All they had was their imagination.

Considering Hollywood's risk-averse nature, it's a little surprising that more "Twilight Zone" episodes haven't been turned into full-blown features — at least, not as official remakes. Obviously, "Poltergeist" owes a massive creative debt to "Little Girl Lost" and it's hard to imagine "Child's Play" without the arsenic-laced genius of "Living Doll," but for straight-up adaptations there's Richard Kelly's "The Box...

On Thursday, October 19, 2023, at 8:00 Pm, A&e will air the 20th episode of Season 24 of “The First 48,” titled “Little Girl Lost.”

In this episode, Detective Angela Carter takes on a challenging case involving a missing teenage girl. She faces the daunting task of unraveling the mystery behind the girl’s disappearance. As Detective Carter delves into the investigation, she begins to wonder if the key to solving the case might be much closer to home than anyone would have anticipated.

“The First 48” is a documentary-style TV series that follows real-life homicide detectives as they work against the clock to solve murder cases within the critical first 48 hours. The show provides viewers with a gripping and unfiltered look into the world of criminal investigations.

In “Little Girl Lost,” Detective Carter’s dedication and skills will be put to the test as she seeks answers and works to bring closure to a distressed family.

One might see Rod Serling's 1959 sci-fi anthology series "The Twilight Zone" as an ambitious amalgam of all modern genre writers. Prior to production, Serling famously solicited scripts from some of the best-known sci-fi writers of his time, including the likes of Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson, George Clayton Johnson, Malcolm Jameson, and several others. Serling typically wrote the scripts for "The Twilight Zone" himself ... which led to some occasional accidental plagiarism. "The Twilight Zone," then, was somewhat of a culmination of an entire generation's sci-fi literature.

Now handily condensed, many of the more striking speculative tales of the day could be easily consumed by a mass public. Serling's show was a huge hit and lasted five seasons before going off the air in 1964. Sering later wrote "Planet of the Apes" in 1968.

Thanks to syndication deals and Thanksgiving marathons, "The Twilight Zone" lingered in the pop consciousness for decades, eventually spawning...

Louisa Mellor Nov 25, 2017

The Twilight Zone casts a long shadow over today’s film and TV. We salute the legacy left by Rod Serling’s seminal series…

“Damn near immortal” is how Stephen King described The Twilight Zone in his 1981 study of creepy fiction Danse Macabre, and who could argue with that. Like any decent horror monster, Rod Serling’s 1960s anthology series keeps coming back from the grave. Only last week it was announced that CBS is planning to resurrect its award-winning show once again. The new series will be the latest of several revivals over the decades, including an upcoming stage production set to enjoy its world premiere at London’s Almeida Theatre this December.

See related Black Mirror series 3 review Black Mirror series 3 interview: Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones How Black Mirror series 3 is eerily coming true

The Twilight Zone doesn’t just keep returning in its own right,...

The Alien films have been endlessly spoofed in popular culture, and with its bevy of cinematic references, The Simpsons has proven to be particularly fertile ground for clever tributes to the cult horror/sci-fi series. On the 37th anniversary of Ridley Scott's 1979 original, here's a brief history of the show's loving homages to the cult franchise. Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments. (All references compiled from the Alien Anthology Wiki.) Season 5, Episode 15 ("Deep Space Homer") The first instance of The Simpsons' Alien spoofery came during Season 5, when, during a segment of the uber-violent Itchy and Scratchy Show, Itchy is shown bursting from Scratchy's stomach in the style of H.R. Giger's baby xenomorph. Photo Credit: Fox Season 5, Episode 19 ("Sweet Seymour Skinner’s Baadasssss Song") After Santa's Little Helper escapes into the air ducts of Springfield Elementary, Groundskeeper Willie is sent in after him, leading...

What is this -- a naughty sex odyssey as absurdist art? Or a non-pc slice of sleazy art film exploitation? Either way it's a (minor) Polanski masterpiece of direction, influenced by the Italian setting. Is what turns Polanski on? The entire excercise is a Kafka comedy of erotic discomfort. What? Blu-ray Severin 1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 110 min. / Che? / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 29.95 Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Sydne Rome, Hugh Griffith, Guido Alberti, Gianfranco Piacentini, Romollo Valli. Cinematography Marcello Gatti, Giuseppe Ruzzolini Production Design Aurelio Crugnola Film Editor Alastair McIntyre Original Music Claudio Gizzi Written by Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski Produced by Carlo Ponti Directed by Roman Polanski

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

It's a slippery slope, I tell you: art films are the gateway to surrealism, and surrealism connects straight to bondage and kinky costume play, which is a direct conduit either to Comic-Con or being forced to resign from the P.T.A.

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Sean Bean watches a dead pig float down the Thames in new supernatural ITV drama, The Frankenstein Chronicles...

This review contains spoilers.

1.1 A World Without God

Frankenstein’s monster has never been quick on his feet, so, fittingly missing Halloween by a week, The Frankenstein Chronicles slowly shuffles its way onto ITV Encore. With parts harvested from history, fiction, and film, this Frankie follows in the footsteps of Sky’s Penny Dreadful and ITV’s recent Jekyll And Hyde – so far, so 'TV Execs are still mid-ransack over at the Waterstones’* Gothic fiction aisles' – but what has this show got in abundance that those others were lacking?

Sean. Bean.

*Other retailers are available.

First plus of the series: viewers used to Bean characters getting killed off have nothing to fear this time – some crazy bio-scientist can always just piece him back together during the next thunderstorm with...

Drew Barrymore’s second memoir, Wildflower, is a lot tamer than her previous tell-all, Little Girl Lost. Those expecting salacious retellings of her drugs-and-alcohol-crazed formative years should turn back. (Okay, there's one of those.) However, what you will get is arguably more fulfilling: a series of funny and thoughtful essays touching on various points of her life, ranging from living on her own for the first time to her first encounters with an array of friends and collaborators, like Steven Spielberg and Cameron Diaz. As Wildflower hits bookshelves across the country today, we’ve rounded up nine of the memoir's especially interesting stories.1. She stipulates in her will that she wants to be buried under an avocado tree. As a child, Barrymore lived in a modest duplex in West Hollywood, where she spent most of her time roaming in the backyard and munching on the avocados from the nearby avocado tree,...

Ready to go back into that other dimension — a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind? Syfy is airing its annual favorite again, the Fourth of July Twilight Zone Marathon. At 19-and-a-half hours, the 2015 edition seems a bit shorter than in other years, and shorter than the New Year’s Eve marathon usually is, but it is a good chance to catch up with a number of classic Twilight Zone episodes, including “The Hitch-Hiker,” pictured here. Syfy Fourth of July Twilight Zone Marathon 2015 Episodes (All Times Et/Pt) Saturday, July 4 8am: Little Girl Lost 8:30am: The After … Continue reading →

The post Syfy Fourth of July Twilight Zone Marathon 2015 episode schedule appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.

Orphan Black Season 3: Year of the… Noggin?

On the heels of Seth’s grisly brain displacement last week, the BBC America thriller exposed another male clone’s cerebral matter in Saturday’s episode.

RelatedOrphan Black Renewed for Season 4

Meanwhile, Sarah got one step closer to the original Leda DNA, and Alison’s suburban drug venture led to a blast from the past.

Let’s review the hour’s biggest reveals and suss out what they mean for the seestras’ future.

What’S In A Head | After Helena purposefully hurts herself so she will get transferred to the infirmary...

How do you celebrate turning 40? By inking a book deal to publish your life story, of course. People reports that Drew Barrymore will release a collection of autobiographical essays, via Dutton. The book's described as "humorous, emotional, and welcoming" — so, a lot like Amy Poehler and Tina Fey's recent memoirs, we're guessing. Barrymore previously chronicled her famously tumultuous childhood in 1991's Little Girl Lost, but says her new book will include more stories from that time in her life, like "living on her own at 14 (and how laundry may have saved her life), getting stuck in a gas station overhang on a cross-country road trip, saying goodbye to her father in a way only he could have understood, and many more adventures and lessons that have led to the most important thing in her life, which is motherhood." Last year Barrymore also published Find It in Everything,...

From The Twilight Zone to Penny Dreadful, Doctor Who and more, Den Of Geek’s writers revisit the TV episodes that truly terrify them…

It’s Halloween! Icicles are glistening from window sills. Chestnuts are roasting on open fires. North Pole elves are… hang on, no. None of that nice, fluffy stuff is happening. At Halloween, demonic creatures hunt for flesh, monsters creep out of their graves, and TV does its level best to freak us all the hell out.

In the spirit of all that, we asked our writers to select and share the TV episodes, horror or otherwise, that have made them whimper with fear. Here they all are, 31 of them, because, well, at Halloween, we like things to add up to 31.

Note that this isn’t a Top 10, or a Best Of, nor is it listed in order of scariness. It’s a collection of the particular...

Steven Awalt – author interviewed by Todd Garbarini

“Well, it’s about time, Charlie!”

Dennis Weaver utters these words in my favorite Steven Spielberg film, Duel, a production that was originally commissioned by Universal Pictures as an Mow, industry shorthand for “movie of the week”, which aired on Saturday, November 13, 1971. The reviews were glowing; the film’s admirers greatly outweighed its detractors and it put Mr. Spielberg, arguably the most phenomenally successful director in the history of the medium, on a path to a career that would make any contemporary director green with envy. Followed by a spate of contractually obligated television outings, Duel would prove to be the springboard that would catapult Mr. Spielberg into the realm that he was shooting for since his youth: that of feature film directing. Duel would also land him in the court of Hollywood producers David Brown and Richard Zanuck and get him his...

The British actress was a familiar face on TV and on Broadway during the 1950s and early ’60s, earning a Tony nom for her supporting role in 1959’s Goodbye, Charlie. Sarah Marshall died Saturday of cancer in Los Angeles. She was 80. Marshall appeared on dozens of TV shows from the mid-’50 through the mid-’90s, including such popular series as Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Get Smart, Daniel Boone, Three’s Company and Cheers. She also was a regular on the 1979 CBS comedy Miss Winslow & Son and appeared in the 1980 miniseries Scruples. But Marshall is perhaps best known to American TV audiences for starring roles on episodes of The Twilight Zone (the worried mother in “Little Girl Lost”) and Star Trek (the disease-curing scientist an ex-flame of Capt. Kirk in “The Deadly Years”).

Image Entertainment, who recently released the episodes only edition of Season 2 of The Twilight Zone (review here), has now released the Season 3 collection that will include every episode, so you’ll get to see Robert Redford, Charles Bronson and Leonard Nimoy in action! Order it on Amazon today! Read on for the press release:

Image Entertainment, an Rlj Entertainment (Nasdaq: Rlje) brand, announces the release of the third season of Rod Serling’s groundbreaking, science fiction anthology The Twilight Zone: The Complete Third Season, available on DVD on July 9, 2013, at an Srp of $29.98. Season three features an incredible list of guest stars including Rod Serling, Robert Redford, Carol Burnett, Cliff Robertson, Charles Bronson, Leonard Nimoy, Elizabeth Montgomery, Dean Stockwell and Bill Mumy.

The Twilight Zone remains television’s most treasured anthology program. The brainchild of writer and narrator Rod Serling — inspired by the pulp comics, novels and sci-fi films...

Who doesn’t love The Twilight Zone? Well, I don’t know, but I know I don’t want to meet them. It’s safe to assume that most horror fans of any form of advance age(I’m 35) grew up, at the very least, watching re-runs of The Twilight Zone on syndicated television. Some of the creepiest moments in television history are thanks to this series. Hell, I remember as a kid, when I was falling asleep to the sound of the TV playing in the background, just the sound of the opening theme chilled me to my core. I have so many fond memories of watching this show as a child, and as an adult.

Collectors of media are aware, The Twilight Zone has been available on various formats, in various packages for us to consume. But, they’ve always been a bit on the pricey side. I...

Their creations are towering achievements in genre entertainment, and on June 26 the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films will recognize the continually influential work of Richard Matheson, William Friedkin, and Vince Gilligan at the Saturn Awards.

From the Press Release

This year’s Saturn Awards ceremony will be hosted by actress Virginia Madsen, who won a Saturn Award as Best Actress for her performance in 1992’s Candyman and received an Oscar® nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role for 2004’s Sideways. Matheson, Friedkin, and Gilligan are all expected to attend the Saturn Awards ceremony at the Castaway Starlight Ballroom in Burbank, California.

“The recipients of this year’s special Saturn Awards have influenced generations of fans – not to mention other creative minds – and their accomplishments truly rank among the great contributions to science fiction, fantasy, and horror,” said Academy President Robert Holguin. “They have provoked our thoughts, invaded our dreams,...

The trailer for this May’s release was missing from The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 but was subsequently released online. Now come the complete details of the next direct-to-dvd film from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The fun vocal casting takes television stalwarts from popular genre series and uses them in other iconic roles. Here is the complete press release. Burbank, CA (February 21, 2012) – A destructive force is devastating planets across the galaxy – with Earth next in its sights – and even Superman may not be capable of halting the terror in Superman: Unbound, the next entry in the ongoing series of DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Produced by Warner Premiere, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the all-new, PG-13 rated film arrives May 7, 2013 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as a Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 Srp) and DVD ($19.98 Srp), On Demand and for Digital Download. The Blu-ray™ Combo Pack will include UltraViolet™*. Based on...

Really Drew? The Coolest moment of your life? Maybe the most incredible moment, the most inspiring, the most magical, the most life-changing…But the coolest? I’m not saying it can’t be cool to have a baby, but you, Drew Barrymore, have had a pretty cool life. Here’s where I tell you about how cool your life is:

As an 11 year old, Drew Barrymore was an “regular” at Studio 54. She smoked cigarettes At 9, drank alcohol At 11, smoked marijuana At 12 and snorted cocaine at 13 Years Old. Sure, that’s pretty messed up, but also pretty cool. In 1990 Drew wrote an autobiography called Little Girl Lost. Even though it was about her troubled youth, it was still a book! She wrote a book. Cool! The next year, Drew filed for emancipation from her parents so she could be cool basically all the time. And then she flashed David Letterman her boobs,...

Here's an awesome set of Twilight Zone sketch cards created by Otis Frampton. Each sketch features an episode from the classic 1960 Rod Serling series! Look over this great set of art and let us know what one of your favorite Twilight Zone episodes is! 

"The Twilight Zone" episodes (from left to right): "A World of His Own", "Eye of the Beholder", "It's A Good Life", "Living Doll" and "Masks".

The Twilight Zone episodes (from left to right): "Nick Of Time", "Time Enough At Last", "A World of Difference", "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet" and "The Silence".

The Twilight Zone episodes (from left to right): "Little Girl Lost", "I Shot An Arrow Into The Air", "The Bewitching Pool", "Will The Real Martian Please Stand Up" and "The After Hours".

The Twilight Zone episodes (from left to right): "The Invaders", "Five Characters In Search of an Exit", "Nothing In The...

Castle's (Nathan Fillion) publisher, Paula (Debi Mazar) tells him about a new three book publishing deal to write about a 'British secret agent.' Castle has just launched his own character so why would he get involved with someone else's character? Then he realizes who that is and claims his entire reason for becoming a writer was this agent. His phone rings, Castle: "Another body must have dropped." Aptly put, seeing as the Db is found in a manhole. Perlmutter (Ayre Gross) puts Cod as blunt force trauma and she was killed two days ago. Ryan (Seamus Dever) asks if he can narrow it down. Castle arrives at the scene late and they tease him about the weird CODs he's just missed. Beckett (Stana Katic) joins in too, continuing on from last episode where she called him a pushover and seems he hasn't got the hint here either.

Our nightly recaps return -- we're alternating weeks with our friends at Film School Rejects -- with a terrifying tale, a twist on a parent's nightmare: What if your child is crying out to you, pleading for your help, but you can't find her? The Twilight Zone, Episode #91: "Little Girl Lost" (original air date March 16, 1962) The Plot: In the middle of the night, six-year-old Tina cries out to her parents. But when her father goes to console her, he can hear her -- but he can't see her! Chris (Robert Sampson) searches for his daughter, but he can't find her, which simply doesn't make any sense. Ruth (Sarah Marshall) joins him in the search, and they are baffled and terrified together. Amidst...

Hey Fiends! We are going to try to have your DVD and Blu-Ray Releases compiled and posted on Mondays now. This week is sort of light on the media releases, but there are still some things to check out, including a new Twilight Zone Season on Blu-Ray

All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here. Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!

Death Tube 2

Format: DVD

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The sequel to the exciting terror film! `Death Tube,` the website where murders are streamed live in real time,...

Who would have thought back in 1982 that “Tron” would be bigger than ever 28 years later? Certainly no one at Walt Disney Studios, as the film was considered a critical and commercial disappointment.

Steven Lisberger, the director of the film that started it all, has theorized, “It took 28 years because we needed the 10-year-olds (who enjoyed the original) to grow up and take their 10-year-olds to see it.” And those 10-year-olds did just that, growing up to get jobs as writers of widely popular TV shows, comedians, pro skaters and advertising reps.

So, without further ado, let’s jump into The Grid and see where their inspiration led…

9. ‘The Simpsons’ (1995)

The year was 1995 and “The Simpsons’” annual Halloween special got folks talkin’ some “Tron” 13 years after its release. Inspired by “The Twilight Zone” episode “Little Girl Lost,” the segment not only treated us to our first look at CGI Homer, but...

This week’s DVD and Blu-ray releases are truly some bankruptcy inducing titles. With two truly epic Blu-ray’s from Criterion to talk about, as well as a slew of new releases and catalog titles from various distributors, you’ll have to choose wisely, or perhaps just take out a loan on your house to pay for them all.

I know, I know. Tuesday was days ago, and we’re almost upon Tuesday again, where we’ll see a whole list of new titles. As those who follow me on Twitter know, I had a rather large event happen on Wednesday, which threw a wrench into my blogging plans. Nevertheless, I wanted to get these titles up, as I think they are incredibly important, and should be considered if you’re looking to drop some cash on DVDs and Blu-rays.

Before I get into this week’s new releases, I...

The Hollywood Reporter brings news that Universal Pictures have acquired the rights to a crime novel called Little Girl Lost and Jonathan Levine is attached to direct, with Scott Pilgrim scribe Michael Bacall on board to do the adaptation.

Published by Hard Case Crime, it’s a mystery about a New York City detective (the same setting as Levine’s previous feature The Wackness) who learns his deceased high school ex, whom he believed to be a doctor in the Midwest, was actually a stripper.

Levine is an interesting up-and-coming filmmaker who seems at ease with tackling different genres. He made the aforementioned, well-received 90’s-set coming-of-age drama The Wackness and the little-seen (but refreshing take on the traditional slasher film) All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

The 34 year-old director currently has a comedy about cancer sufferers called Live With It (starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen), in post-production.

The awesome fantastic Fug Girls, writing for Vulture, have compiled ten television cameos guaranteed to boost ratings. Scott Speedman on "Running Wilde," and Dawson on "Fringe," are among the gems. (Vulture)

In case you missed Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, here are the ten worst lines of the film, and there were plenty to choose from. (FilmDrunk)

Rachel Bilson, who is not Mila Kunis and don't you forget that, has signed on to Bff and Baby, an indie comedy starring Krysten Ritter and Kate Bosworth. It's about two best friends who fight to maintain normalcy in their friendship after one of them has a baby. It also has a heinous title. (Variety)

Jonathon Levine, he of The Wackness fame, is set to direct Little Girl Lost based on a crime novel about a private dick who discovers his high school girlfriend has become a stripper, and is now dead.

Universal Pictures has acquired the film rights to Richard Aleas’ 2004 crime novel "Little Girl Lost" reports Entertainment Weekly.

The story centers on John Blake, an Nyu dropout-turned-private-investigator who learns his high school girlfriend who he thought went to medical school actually became a stripper and has been murdered.

Jonathan Levine ("The Wackness," "I'm With Cancer") is set to direct while "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" co-writer Michael Bacall is attached to write the screenplay.

For a while there it looked like Jonathan Levine's directing career wasn't getting him anywhere. His horror thriller All The Boys Love Mandy Lane was a festival success but languished for years without distribution, and his 90s coming-of-age film The Wackness was lovely, except that nobody saw it. But when he snagged the job directing the Seth Rogen-Joseph Gordon Levitt dramedy Live With It, apparently he started setting things right, and just as that film wraps he's already moving on to the next thing. According to Variety, Levine has signed on to direct an adaptation of Richard Aleas's crime novel Little Girl Lost, about a New York City detective who learns his high school ex-- whom he believed to be an eye doctor in the Midwest-- was actually a stripper, and now she's dead. The novel was a finalist in the Edgar Allan Poe and Shamus Award...

Universal Pictures has acquired the rights to "Little Girl Lost", a hard-boiled crime novel by Richard Aleas. The studio is currently developing the big screen version, which is also titled "Little Girl Lost", with Michael Bacall ("Scott Pilgrim vs. the World") on board to write the script.

Universal has additionally tapped Jonathan Levine ("All the Boys Love Mandy Lane", "The Wackness") to work behind the camera. Meanwhile, Marc Platt, Adam Siegel and Mason Novick are teaming up to produce the drama thriller, which has yet to get release date. No actor is cast for the drama thriller either.

Published by Hard Case Crime, "Little Girl Lost" is a story of a private investigator who learns that his high school girlfriend has become a stripper and is now dead. He then journeys to the seedy side to find the man responsible. This book was followed by a sequel, "Songs of Innocence...

Jonathan Levine, who directed the awesome indie "The Wackness," is in talks to helm Universal's big-screen adaptation of "Little Girl Lost," a novel by Richard Aleas. Michael Bacall will write the script.

Heat Vision says the story follows a private detective who discovers his former high-school girlfriend is now a dead stripper. As a result, he launches his own investigation to find the person responsible.

Aside from "The Wackness," Levine also helmed "All the Boys Love Mandy Lane," and the upcoming "Live with It," a cancer comedy starring Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anna Kendrick.

Jonathan Levine is set to direct "Little Girl Lost" for Universal Pictures who have picked up film rights to Richard Aleas' hardboiled crime novel. Michael Bacall ("Scott Pilgrim vs. the World") will adapt the screenplay based on the 2004-published book which follows a New York City private investigator who is shocked to learn that his high school girlfriend (now a stripper), has been murdered. He had heard she had moved to the Midwest to become an eye doctor and now, sets his goal to find out the truth behind her death. Levine's credits include the solid "The Wackness" with Josh Peck, Olivia Thirlby, Ben Kingsley and Famke Janssen as well as the upcoming "Live With It" (a.k.a. "I'm With Cancer"). Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce "Little Girl Lost" via Marc Platt productions, alongside Mason Novick.

After delivering quite the slice of life in the 90's with The Wackness, director Jonathan Levine moved on to the dark comedy Live With It (formerly known as I'm With Cancer) starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt & Seth Rogen. Now the director will be diving into pulp fiction as Heat Vision says Levine will direct an adaptation of the hard-boiled crime novel Little Girl Lost by Richard Aleas (writer Charles Ardai's pseudonym). Actor & writer Michael Bacall is adapting the story about a private dick who discovers his high school girlfriend became a stripper and is now dead. To find her killer he has to get his hands dirty in the shady part of town. Bacall may be better known for his acting, but recently his work on the page has resulted in Scott Pilgrim vs The World as well as the Todd Phillips produced comedy Project X as well as the adaptation ...

Coming off the underrated (and undistributed) slasher All The Boys Love Mandy Lane as well as the 2008 Sundance Audience Award winner The Wackness, director Jonathan Levine has signed on to his next project. [The Wrap]

He will direct an adaptation of Richard Aleas‘ crime novel Little Girl Lost for Universal. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World co-writer Michael Bacall will adapt the story that follows “an Nyu dropout turned private detective who investigates the death of a stripper who happens to be his high school sweetheart.”

I loved Levine’s style in Mandy Lane and it’s a shame the film hasn’t found a release since its 2006 Toronto International Film Festival premiere. I was less interested in The Wackness but found that Levine captured the time period quite well. He recently finished shooting is third film, Live With It. Formerly known as I’m With Cancer, it stars Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Wackness director Jonathan Levine is attached to direct the film adaptation of Little Girl Lost for Universal Pictures. The film will be based on the crime novel from Richard Aleas of the same name.

The story follows an Nyu dropout turned private detective who investigates the death of a stripper who happens to be his high school sweetheart. The script for the film will be written by Michael Bacall who most recently adapted Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World for Edgar Wright.

Levine just finished shooting his third movie called Live With It starring Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Levine is a good storyteller, and this film sounds like it's right up his ally.

Here's a full description of the novel:

John Blake and Miranda Sugarman dated in high school, but after graduation they went their separate ways: he stayed in New York City and became a private investigator while...

Now that he’s finishing up work on cancer comedy Live With It, The Wackness’ Jonathan Levin has been hunting around for his next likely target. And it seems he’s found one in hard-boiled crime tome Little Girl Lost, which Universal has just bought.Written by Richard Aleas (the pseudonym of TV scribe Charles Ardai – see what he did there, eh? – “Aleas”/alias), the book follows a private eye who discovers that his high school sweetheart turned to being a stripper to make ends meet and ended up meeting her maker instead. He takes the case in order to track down the man who killed her.Ardai founded his own publishing imprint, Hard Case Crime, to get the book out on shelves, and has also written a sequel, titled Songs of Innocence.Levine’s presence has us interested, but we’re also happy to see Scott Pilgrim co-writer Michael Bacall getting more work,...

Jonathan Levine who parlayed his debut film, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane into not one, but two theatrical deals (we're still awaiting its release) then moved onto The Wackness and next year's Black List favorite in Summit Ent.'s Live With It, is most probably lined up to make some serious dough for his next project. The studios have come calling and Universal is attaching the director to Little Girl Lost - moving Levine into a different genre. The Wrap reports that Marc Platt and Adam Siegel will produce for Marc Platt Productions with Mason Novick. Scribe Michael Bacall (2001's Manic and more recently, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) is penning the project. A casting call would go out to a young male lead somewhere in the 25-35 range and a girl next door who would go onto turning into a sexual object type. Based on Richard Aleas' crime...

Universal Pictures announced today that it has acquired the rights to Richard Aleas’ crime novel Little Girl Lost. Jonathan Levine, who directed the indie The Wackness, and recently completed I’m With Cancer starring Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick, will direct with Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) attached to write the screenplay.

Little Girl Lost was first published in 2004 by Aleas, the pen name of Charles Ardai, an award-winning author and founder of company Hard Case Crime. The novel centers on John Blake, an Nyu dropout-turned-private-investigator who learns that his high school girlfriend who he thought went to...

Jonathan Levine has signed on to direct Richard Aleas' hardboiled crime novel Little Girl Lost for Universal Pictures. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World screenwriter Michael Bacall will pen the screenplay adaptation You might remember that Levine is the director of one of our favorite films of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival -- The Wackness. The Wrap broke the news. Here is the description from the book publisher: A Shamus Award-nominee Author. John Blake and Miranda Sugarman dated in high school, but after graduation they went their separate ways: he stayed in New York City and became a private investigator while she moved to the midwest and settled down to a safe, respectable life as an eye doctor. Or so he thought -- until the day, ten years later, when he opened the Daily News and saw Miranda's photo staring out at him under the headline "Stripper Murdered." John wants to find...

Update: Universal has bought screen rights to the Richard Aleas crime novel Little Girl Lost and has attached I'm With Cancer helmer Jonathan Levine to direct. Michael Bacall is writing the script. An Nyu dropout-turned private eye learns that the high school girlfriend he thought went to medical school instead became a stripper, and was murdered... The website Latino Review got the drop on the festering question of who would play arch-nemesis Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes 2. It will be Jared Harris, the son of Richard Harris and a Mad Men cast member. Rumors were the studio was looking to star cast for the role, with Daniel Day-Lewis and Colin Firth mentioned. Jude Law reprises, while Noomi Rapace and Stephen Fry are in the cast, the latter playing Holmes' older brother... Paul Haggis is reportedly going to write the script for The Equalizer, the CBS drama that's had Russell Crowe attached.

It appears that Johnathan Levine (The Wackness) is attached to direct Little Girl Lost. Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World) will adapt the screenplay from Richard Aleas' crime novel, which was also a finalist for both the Edgar Allan Poe Award and the Shamus Award. Richard Aleas is actually a pen name for Charles Ardai. The author is the founder of publishing company, Hard Case Crime. His book was published in 2004. Levine just wrapped on shooting for Live With It (which was...

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Blu-Ray Review

You can own this Blu-Ray today

Synopsis: When a spaceship splashes down in Gotham Harbor, Batman and Superman encounter a mysterious Kryptonian with powers as great as Superman's. When Darkseid gets wind of this, he has the Kryptonian abducted and brought under his control on Apokolips. It's up to Batman and Superman to retrieve the Kryptonian, forcing them to infiltrate Darkseid's hostile world where superpowerful threats lurk around every corner. This story is based on Jeff Loeb's popular mini-series from the Superman/Batman comic books.

Review: The Dc Universe films have really been pushing the envelope as far as quality adult-themed comic book inspired animation.  The latest installment in this series is Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.   This movie is based on the "Supergirl from Krypton" arc in Superman/Batman comic book #8-13, pencilled by the late and great Michael Turner.

The film follows...

The Wackness director Jonathan Levine has plans to adapt Little Girl Lost , the 2004 Richard Aleas (a psuedonym for Charles Ardai) crime novel, reports Heat Vision . Michael Bacall ( Scott Pilgrim vs. the World ) will adapt the novel, which was released as part of the "Hard Case Crime" series of modern pulp paperbacks. The story deals with a New York private investigator, John Blake, who investigates the murder of his high school sweetheart after the facts in the case start to turn up very differently than he expected. Though some time has passed since the posting, Ardai shared his thoughts on a film version's potential casting in 2007 at My Book, The Movie .

After a two week long hiatus, The Gates came back action packed!

"Little Girl Lost" began exactly where "Identity Crisis" left off - Dylan and Claire are frantic to find their missing daughter, Emily, so they ask Nick to help them find her. Naturally, Nick was skeptical, but ever being the good guy, he agreed to.

[Photo: ABC]

I really thought that this storyline would have been a bit more dramatic then it actually was, but the ending scene was still quite shocking.

It was entertaining to watch Dylan squirm when Christian tested his intentions. Did you find it surprising that it was Claire who ended up killing Christian? Tis scene showed us how The Gates portrays a vampire death. I kind of imagined it to be more gory, a la True Blood, but it was more like what you would expect to see if an average Joe was stabbed.

In an interesting twist,...

Drew Barrymore has a Hollywood career spanning over 28 years. She has proved herself to be a Hollywood survivor, a canny business woman and a woman with a joie de vivre. She spoke to the Irish press about her current movie "Going the Distance" and her plans for the future. Barrymore is now 35 and it is incredible how much she has already packed into her life. At the age of seven she had already starred in "E.T," was hosting "Saturday Night Live" and she knew the bouncers at Studio 54. By the age of thirteen Barrymore had started to use cocaine. At 14 she has become a regular in rehab and by 15 she wrote her autobiography "Little Girl Lost". The very same year she was emancipated from her mother who she claimed was a bad influence. When she was 17 she posed naked for Interview magazine and the for Playboy at 19. It's amazing that these days,...