30 Days of Night (film)

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30 Days of Night
Directed by	David Slade
Produced by	Sam Raimi Robert Tapert Joe Drake Nathan Kahane
Written by	Miniseries: Steve Niles Matt Fraction Dan Wickline Screenplay: Stuart Beattie Brian Nelson
Starring	Josh Hartnett Melissa George Danny Huston Amber Sainsbury
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	October 19, 2007
Country	USA
Language	English
IMDb profile

30 Days of Night is a 2007 horror film based on the comic book miniseries of the same name. The film is directed by David Slade and stars Josh Hartnett, Melissa George, Danny Huston and Amber Sainsbury. The film is slated for an October 19, 2007 release.

1 Plot outline
2 Cast
3 Production
4 References
5 External link

[edit] Plot outline

This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town's husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.

[edit] Cast

On June 15, 2006, Josh Hartnett was announced to be cast as the husband of the married couple that serves as the town's sheriff team.^[1] On July 31, 2006, Melissa George announced that she joined the 30 Days of Night cast as the wife of Hartnett's character.^[2] On September 11, 2006, Danny Huston was announced to join the cast as the leader of the vampires.^[3]

Actor	Role
Josh Hartnett	Eben Olemaun
Melissa George	Stella Olemaun
Danny Huston	Vicente
Amber Sainsbury
Ben Foster^[4]
Manu Bennett^[5]

[edit] Production

[edit] Development

Shortly following the publication of the 30 Days of Night comic book miniseries in 2002, studios including DreamWorks, MGM, and Senator International bid in the $1 million range for rights to a potential vampire film based on the story. Director and producer Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) expressed interest in adapting the miniseries and was negotiating a production deal with his producting partner Robert Tapert to establish a label with Senator Entertainment, of which Senator International is the sales division.^[6] In July 2002, Senator International acquired the rights for 30 Days of Night in a seven figure deal with Raimi and Tapert attached as producers. According to 30 Days of Night author Steve Niles, the writer had conceived of the story in the form of a film but after a lack of attention, Niles wrote it as a comic. When Niles and his agent, Jon Levin, shopped the comic around as a potential film adaptation, Niles found that the idea "went shockingly well" and was pleased to have the deal wind up with Sam Raimi. According to Raimi, the potential project was "so unlike the horror films of recent years".^[7]

[edit] Pre-production

On February 27, 2003, Columbia Pictures announced its partnership with Senator International to work on 30 Days of Night, which was developing under Senator International's newly-established production company, Ghost House Pictures. Mike Richardson, the Dark Horse Comics publisher who supported the adaptation project, was attached as executive producer.^[8] In March 2004, Sue Binder, the business manager of Ghost House Pictures, indicated that filming for 30 Days of Night was still at least a year away, as Ghost House planned to produce three films before the vampire thriller.^[9] In September 2005, director David Slade (Hard Candy) was announced to sign onto 30 Days of Night, which would be distributed by Columbia Pictures mainly in North America and Mandate Pictures in international territories.^[10]

[edit] Screenplay

In October 2002, Niles said he was working on adapting 30 Days of Night for the big screen, keeping the film true to the miniseries, though he found himself fleshing out the characters more significantly in the adaptation process.^[11] In March 2003, executive producer Mike Richardson revealed that Steve Niles had turned in the initial draft for the 30 Days of Night screenplay.^[12] In March 2004, Grind House Pictures said that Columbia Pictures had passed on Niles's initial screenplay to be rewritten in preparation for production.^[9] In May 2004, Steve Niles said that Stuart Beattie, one of the writers for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, would be rewriting Niles's 30 Days of Night draft.^[13] In October 2004, producer Rob Tapert said in an interview that Niles was pleased with Beattie's faithfully rewritten script, which had been submitted to the studio.^[14] However, in March 2006, director David Slade revealed that screenwriter Brian Nelson, who wrote the screenplay for Slade's Hard Candy, was writing a new draft of the 30 Days of Night script.^[15]

[edit] Filming

In March 2006, director David Slade said that filming would begin in summer 2006 in Alaska and New Zealand.^[15] Filming did not begin immediately, but in a September 2006 interview, executive producer Mike Richardson said that 30 Days of Night would be shot on 35 mm film, though there was discussion to shoot the film on Genesis.^[16] In an interview prior to filming, Slade stated his intention to make a "scary vampire film", of which he didn't think there were many. "The rest of them, they fall into all kinds of traps. We're going to try to do our best... and one of the ways we have to do it is be more naturalistic than the graphic novel, because it's very over-the-top," said Slade.^[17]