Tagline: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
The highly anticipated reunion of Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson, the creative minds behind the record-breaking “Scream” trilogy. This time, Craven and Williamson put their signature on the classic werewolf tale, re-inventing the genre with their hip, edge-of-your-seat style. Set in Los Angeles, “Cursed” centers around an estranged brother and sister dealing with the recent loss of their parents, whose lives are irrevocably altered one dark night in Los Angeles by a vicious animal attack.
It is a moonlit night in Los Angeles, when something lurking in the shadows causes their car to suddenly swerve off the road, a teenaged brother and his career-driven sister emerge relatively unscathed, but forever changed by the accident. Suddenly, the siblings find themselves blessed with increased physical strength, heightened sensibilities and undeniable allure to everyone around them.
But, what if what happened to them that night wasn’t just an accident and what seemed like fate was really something more? It is only a matter of time before Ellie (Christina Ricci) and Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg “Rodger Dodger”) can no longer control these impulses because their newfound power comes with a price that they never expected to pay and a mystery that only they can solve.
Cursed is a 2005 American werewolf body horror film directed by Wes Craven and written by screenwriter Kevin Williamson, who both collaborated on Scream. The film stars Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg as two estranged siblings attacked by a werewolf loose in Los Angeles.
Originally planned for 2003, the film is a notable example of development hell, taking over two more years to be made than originally planned, during which producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein kept asking for re-shoots and changes to the plot, re-edited the movie to give a PG-13 rating rather than the original intended R-rating, and fired legendary make-up artist Rick Baker to replace the werewolves he had created with computer-generated ones.
Cursed opened theatrically on February 25, 2005, grossing $19,297,522 at the North American box office and $10,324,200 internationally for a total worldwide gross of $29,621,722 against a $38 million budget, making the film a box office bomb.
About the Production
The original script was written in August 2000. Dimension co-founder Bob Weinstein announced in October 2002 that Cursed would “reinvent the werewolf genre,” and Wes Craven would direct with the movie being released around August 2003.
Christina Ricci, Skeet Ulrich and Jesse Eisenberg were cast as the three leads. The original plot line had three strangers brought together by a car accident in the Hollywood Hills and the subsequent attack of a werewolf. The three characters were named Ellie Hudson, Vince Winston, and Jimmy Myers. With a budget of $38 million, Cursed commenced shooting March 2003 in Los Angeles. The set used for the high school is Torrance High School, the same used for Sunnydale High on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and West Beverly High on Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spin-off 90210. Filming also occurred at Verdugo Hills High School. Special effects were shot in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
However, the film soon suffered numerous production and script issues and was postponed for over a year. While production was stalled, several cast members had to be replaced due to scheduling conflicts with other films. When the movie was re-written and re-shot, many cast members had been cut entirely, including Skeet Ulrich, Mandy Moore, Omar Epps, Illeana Douglas, Heather Langenkamp, Scott Foley, Robert Forster, and Corey Feldman. Some of them had even filmed scenes which were scrapped by director Wes Craven. In the film, Ellie works among the crew of The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, with Kilborn making a cameo appearance and Scott Baio, as himself, being booked to appear on the show. But by the time the film was released in February 2005, Kilborn had left the show and had been replaced with Craig Ferguson.
Only about 90% of the original version was filmed, leaving the original scripted version unfilmed. Although, while filming the original version, producer Bob Weinstein told Wes Craven he was happy with the film, he later changed his opinion and ordered for the movie to be re-shot with a new plot. After massive re-shoots which included filming a newly written ending, Weinstein told Craven that he didn’t like the new ending leading to another ending where Jake attacks Ellie and Jimmy in their home, despite some incoherence with the rest of the film.
Cursed (2005)
Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Christina Ricci, James Brolin, Portia De Rossi, Shannon Elizabeth, Judy Greer, Michelle Kruisec, Kristina Anapau, Jesse Eisenberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Jonny Acker
Screenplay by: Kevin Williamson
Production Design by: Chris Cornwell, Bruce Alan Miller
Cinematography by: Robert McLachlan
Film Editing by: Patrick Lussier, Lisa Mozden
Costume Design by: Alix Friedberg
Set Decoration by: Douglas A. Mowat, Dena Roth
Art Direction by: Andrew Max Cahn. Jeff Knipp
Music by: Marco Beltrami
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for horror violence / terror, some sexual references, nudity, language and a brief drug reference,
Distributed by: Dimension Films
Release Date: February 25, 2005
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