Let Me In

[MacGuffin]

Michael Giacchino to Score Let Me In
Source: ComingSoon

Oscar winner Michael Giacchino has been tapped to compose the original score for the upcoming Overture Films release Let Me In, writer/director Matt Reeves' English-language adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's best-selling Swedish novel "Låt den rätte komma in" and the critically-acclaimed film Let the Right One In. The haunting and provocative thriller stars Chloë Moretz (Kick-Ass), Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor). Let Me In releases in theaters October 1, 2010.

Giacchino's work has been nominated twice for an Academy Award - first, for his score to the animated blockbuster Ratatouille, and more recently, for his score to the highly-acclaimed Up for which he won the award in the Best Original Score category. Giacchino's other notable credits include the score for ABC's hit shows "Lost" and "Alias," as well as the feature films Star Trek, Land of the Lost, The Incredibles, Mission: Impossible III, and Speed Racer.



UK poster:

[MacGuffin]

Will the American mainstream get to let the right one in?
Source: Los Angeles Times

As fan interest in, and backlash to, the American remake of "Let the Right One In" has streamed in over the past year, its principals have said that fans of the original should hold their judgment. "If I didn't feel a personal connection and feel it could be its own film, I wouldn't be doing [a remake]," director Matt Reeves told my colleague Mark Olsen last year. "I hope people give us a chance."

Here's hoping they have the opportunity.

The major management shakeup at Overture last week threw a number of previously ironclad realities into question. Chief among them was the status of "Let Me In," Reeves' take on the Tomas Alfredson coming-of-age-vampire movie that bowled over art house and genre audiences in 2008.

The original, which examined a loner named Oskar and his tender friendship with the oddball vampire Eli, created an exquisite mood and even more exquisite ending. It picked up a hard-core cadre of fans and also caught the attention of Hammer Films, a sales agent and producer that came on board to remake the Swedish hit it long before the film developed a cult following in the U.S. Reeves, hot off his "Cloverfield" debut, soon joined too. Scenes were shot, trailers were cut, and one of the many in-development foreign-language remakes finally was on its way to the screen.

But last week, in something of a surprise, it was announced that Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett, Overture's top dogs and co-founders, would be leaving the company. Overture had been on the sales block for nearly a year, as owner John Malone and Liberty Media looked to exit the film business (and a buyer who would help them achieve that). Without that, Malone decided to retool, slim down,  other euphemisms reserved for people who don't want to be in a business anymore. Chris Albrecht, the head of Overture parent Starz, was stepping in to oversee the film division.

All these moves threw into question several upcoming releases, most notably the Oct. 1 roll-out of "Let Me In."

Sources say that Overture, which declined comment for this story, is still planning to release the film along the lines of its initial plan of 1,200-plus screens. Reeves and the film's stars are still planning on coming to Comic-Con, so the publicity wheels are in motion, and so are the marketing ones. At the very least, the film won't get lost on the watch of Peter Adee, the canny marketing veteran who has been bumped up to run Overture's day-to-day operations in the wake of the McGurk-Rosett departure.

But sources with knowledge of the Overture situation also say that nothing is certain when it comes to the banner's upcoming films, much less for "Let Me In." The fate of the vampire film and two other finished movies (Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut, "Jack Goes Boating," and an Al Pacino crime drama titled "Stone") will depend heavily on Albrecht, who has several options before him.

Holding back "Let Me In" would be one possible, but not likely, move, as Liberty uses the film as a bargaining chip of sorts for the several suitors who have circled Overture. (We say not likely because when you have the gun ready to fire, as the "Let Me In" marketing team does, you don't take your hand off the trigger. And it Liberty can't find a buyer by October, it probably won't find one anyway.)

More likely, "Let Me In" comes out on schedule in October, but without as much marketing support as it might have gotten when Malone was actually keen to stay in the film business. That would keep the film confined to a narrow audience, creating a particularly ironic situation since one of the main reasons you remake "Let the Right One In" in the first place is to broaden its audience.

It's also possible that Albrecht decides to hold back "Let Me In" so that the company could raise some cash for its release. (P&A investors, as these people are called, are usually among the easiest moneymen to find.) That could mean the movie indeed gets the marketing support it deserves -- it just doesn't come out in October.

In LeBron-like fashion, Albrecht has yet to make a decision about the film on the slate in general, say people familiar with his thought processes, though in his previous life as HBO chief he developed "True Blood," so at the very least has a soft spot for vampire movies.

Long before the latest business drama, there were reasons for fans to be worried when Hammer and its distribution/co-financing partner Overture stepped in. Could you replicate the Gothic mood created by Alfredson and screenwriter-novelist John Ajvide Lindqvist -- and if you could, why would you? A trailer that highlights the horror elements instead of teasing out the metaphors for adolescent sexuality, as the first one did, gave reason for pause. ("Among ordinary people...something wicked lives" is part of the tagline here, and there are a couple of "Omen"-like shots that suggest the horror but not the heart.)

Then again, Chloe Moretz as Eli should hearten anyone who wants to see some sensitive but tough-minded acting, providing she doesn't overdo her wiseacre persona made popular in "Kick-Ass" and "(500) Days of Summer." Richard Jenkins, who plays a kind of father-figure/manipulator figure, is always a joy to watch. And Overture/Hammer should get credit for not aging up the characters in the scurrilous hope of piggybacking on "Twilight" interest.

Even if it's a shaky effort, the passion with which the filmmakers defended it was a reason to want to see this one through. And if nothing else,  a large-scale release would call more attention to the original, an entirely welcome and necessary development -- assuming that large-scale is still possible. As Oskar could tell you, sometimes justice is a cruel monster.

[polkablues]

The original, which examined a loner named Oskar and his tender friendship with the oddball vampire Eli,

Yeah, they've never seen it.

[modage]

[matt35mm]

The movie website on the bottom makes me want to call this movie Let MEIN!

[jtm]

so....they're making this movie to look as close as they can to the original?

is the purpose of this movie to appease the people that hate reading subtitles?

cuz otherwise, i really don't get the point of this remake.

[Tictacbk]

is the purpose of this movie to appease the people that hate reading subtitles?

Yes, they're called Americans.

[modage]

This looks really good.   

New Trailer: http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2010/07/new-let-me-in-trailer-continues-to.html

[MacGuffin]

Red Band Trailer

[OrHowILearnedTo]

I don't know what you guys see in that clown Matt Reeves. This looks brutal.

And why was that trailer red band anyway? They're wasn't any excess of gore or anything.

[brockly]

I don't know what you guys see in that clown Matt Reeves. This looks brutal.

clown? i think his debut proves he's anything but. i'm no cloverfield fan (the material sucked balls) but the perseverance that film demanded and it's execution were pretty damn impressive. he's doing the screenplay this time, he's got the goods to work with and it's clearly something he's passionate about. i'm predicting this will be awesome, assuming those last two trailers are deceptive marketing, which i believe they are. my biggest fear is that this is gonna get too carried away with the horror elements.

and why was that trailer red band anyway? They're wasn't any excess of gore or anything.

they showed a 12 year old girl with blood dripping from her mouth. that's all it takes.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

It's bizarre that don't list any of his Felicity episodes or Under Siege 2: Dark Territory other than Cloverfield, which, oddly enough, was also the most overhyped shaky cam accident.

This will not be exceptional in any way, and if it is, why?  Why, God?  Why must they ruin a great film?  Why can't they obscure it more so it won't puke all over the original and simply ruin it?  I can't believe some of you are excited for this.  I am sick.

It would only be a testament to the situation that they'd botch the subtitles on the original DVD's for Let The Right One In.

[squints]

he also did the paulbearer. does anyone else remember that god awful movie?

[brockly]

fuck u both. i'm still excited.

[Stefen]

I am too. Everything about it looks really good. Not just okay, but good.