Russell Brand to haunt you humorously for a price in The Hauntrepreneur

First off, here’s the recently released plot summary for THE HAUNTREPRENEUR: “The story revolves around a family that has trouble adjusting to a new town hires a peculiar man who calls himself the Hauntrepreneur to help them. In an attempt to bring them together, the man creates a haunted house filled with an odd cast of characters.”

My first thought is to say “quick, get Tim Burton on the phone!” If only because this sounds a lot like a watered down BEETLEJUICE, so to speak. Well, that, and the movie sounds exactly like the kind of quirky-creepy middle ground Burton seems to have settled into of late. As for the casting of Russell Brand, I’m sure he can be manic and intentionally/unintentionally disturbing enough to pull this off without a problem, and I’ll admit to being a bit curious to see what sort of character he creates for this project.

Paramount and Platinum Dunes, Michael Bay’s production house, will back the movie. Thus far it would have been apt to rename Platinum Dunes “Remakepalooza Productions” as their credits have mainly consisted of horror remakes of questionable quality like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. But perhaps THE HAUNTREPRENEUR, another original property after the recently announced VIGILANDIA, marks a change in their philosophy. Wouldn’t that be nice for everybody? A director has yet to be found, while the spec script is by Scott Rosenberg (CON AIR, HIGH FIDELITY).