In what is surely one of the most hilariously lame studio battles in recent memory, Lionsgate and Paramount are currently at war over their competing cheapie horror franchises: “Saw VII” and “Paranormal Activity 2” respectively. Before today, they were both set to open the same weekend, October 22nd, but then Lionsgate decided to go ahead and up the ante.
As we reported yesterday, Lionsgate have decided to use director Kevin Greutert (who directed “Saw VI”) as a pawn in this embarrassing pissing match by exercising their option on him, pulling him out of the “Paranormal Activity 2” helmer’s seat, and placing him behind the camera for “Saw VII.” It seems like a cheap move to try and stall production on Paramount’s fast-tracked, quickie sequel to their smash hit and we can only imagine Greutert feels like a kid in the middle of a custody hearing between two immature parents.
Well, it hasn’t taken long for the director to break his silence, and while his message was brief, it doesn’t take much to sense the outrage on his end. Here’s the full message from his website that he later pulled down:
I’m in the middle of something really terrible right now, as anyone who has come to this site probably knows. While I fight for justice in this, the important thing is to avoid giving in to hatred and anger, because these emotions are life killers.
Hopefully we will all arrive at an amicable solution. Thank you to everyone who is working with me on this.
Kevin
We frankly don’t give a shit about either film, but its pretty awful to treat an industry veteran so shabbily. We hope Greutert comes out of this intact, and we also hope that Lionsgate decides to grow up and not treat their contract talent like pieces in a game of Risk. But what about David Hackl who was pulled out of “Saw VII” seat to make room for Greutert? Damn, he’s already a footnote in this story, but being yanked off the sixth sequel of an already aging franchise can’t be a great feeling.
For now, both “Saw VII” and “Paranormal Activity 2” are set to make October 22nd the worst weekend for moviegoing in 2010
