When you're making an independent film based on a small genre book, there's really only one way to guarantee that people will see your movie: cast movie stars. So though Paul Giamatti appears to play a pretty small role in John Dies at the End, the adaptation of Cracked writer David Wong's 2007 novel, he's featured prominently in the film's first trailer, which has debuted online. Take a look at it below, and while you're wrapping your mind around the film's convoluted plot and occasionally terrifying visuals, see if you notice that all of Giamatti's scenes appear to take place in one location-- as in, they might all just be one scene.
Of course, if you were paying close enough attention you might have noticed some slightly lesser known but maybe even more awesome names, like Clancy Brown-- of Cowboys & Aliens and Starship Troopers and The Shawshank Redemption and a gazillion other things-- and Doug Jones, the actor better known for turning into creatures like Abe Sapien or the Faun for Guillermo del Toro in Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. Jones is that guy who's so lean and tall that he looks kind of like a human special effect-- and it's pretty remarkable for an ordinary human to stand out in a trailer like John Dies At The End, which is packed with all kinds of elaborate creatures and subtly unsettling special effects. Our two lead characters John and David are on a drug called Soy Sauce that sends them on a series of wild trips, and it looks like John Dies at the End is taking us with them.
The trailer for this movie premiered at Fantastic Fest over the weekend, and it's clear the production from director Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep) has the support from genre movie fans that it needs to be at least a small success. The movie is set for some kind of release next year, but as often happens with indie productions, the details are a little fuzzy. For the most frequent updates you can go to the official site maintained by none other than the book's author himself, David Wong.
