Jonathan Levine, Amber Heard and ‘Mandy Lane’ finally get a date
In the world of horror thrillers, the anticipation of what’s to come can be the best part. So with Monday’s announcement that “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane” will be released on demand on Sept. 6 and in theaters Oct. 11 — some seven years after its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival — horror fans will finally get a look at what they’ve been waiting for.
Following its acquisition out of Toronto a series of events put the film into a rights limbo that caused it to sit on the shelf in the U.S. even as it was released elsewhere around the world.
A Texas-set story of high school kids whose trip to a remote ranch for a weekend of partying turns into a bloodbath when someone starts picking them off, the film turned out to be quite the incubator of young talent. Director Jonathan Levine made his feature debut with the film and went on to direct the cancer comedy “50/50” and this year’s sleeper hit zombie romance “Warm Bodies.”
In the title role, “Mandy Lane” was a key breakout for actress Amber Heard, who has gone on to star in the short-lived TV show “The Playboy Club” and films such as “Drive Angry” with Nicolas Cage and “The Rum Diary” with Johnny Depp. She starred in the recent film “Syrup” and will be seen in the upcoming “Paranoia” with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman, “Three Days To Kill,” directed by McG and Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete Kills.”
Actor Michael Welch would go on to play Mike Newton in the “Twilight” films, while Anson Mount appeared on TV’s “Hell on Wheels.” Among the producers of Mandy Lane is Keith Calder, who has more recently worked on the film “You’re Next,” the home invasion thriller that premiered at Toronto in 2011 and will be released to theaters later this summer.
Audiences will finally get to discover for themselves if “Mandy Lane” was worth waiting for.
Also:
In ‘Warm Bodies,’ girl meets... zombie
Indie Focus: ‘The Rum Diary” pours forth anew
Toronto International Film Festival: The spirit moves John Carpenter once again
Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus
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