Rumor Control: “The Green Inferno”

As regular Blood-Shed readers know, I’m a huge Eli Roth fan and a proponent of his yet to be released jungle survival horror The Green Inferno.

Now, I’m not going to name names, but yesterday, 2 very prominent horror news outlets ran articles about The Green Inferno; one claimed to be an “Update” and the other claimed that the film will be “Released Soon”… As usual, fans responded enthusiastically. Unfortunately, it’s not true.

Recap

The Green Inferno was slated for theatrical release in September 2014 through Open Road and their promotional arm Worldview Entertainment. Several weeks before this, Worldview fired their founder and CEO Chris Woodrow amidst claims of unrealistic financial commitments. Since then, the film has been stuck in limbo.

Eli Roth

The “Update”

Roth gave an interview with IGN recently where he made the following statements:

Trust me when I say there are no less than four lawyers from different companies on conference calls and email chains every single day to work this out. I was hoping to have it resolved today or by Monday so we could do something to hopefully have it out this summer. So please don’t hold me to anything, but trust me when I say everybody is all over working it out.

Yeah, that sounds kind of like an update—except it’s basically the exact same thing he told Indiewire last January, when he stated:

As of right now, all systems are go for the theatrical release [of ‘The Green Inferno’]. Here’s the thing: everyone is working to resolve it. Open Road has been amazing through this entire process. I really love them, they’ve been great. Even with whatever situation Worldview is going through, everyone is working together to find the best, cleanest, most positive resolution and get the film out in the widest release possible. I think realistically it would be in the August to September [2015] range. Trust me, I check in with the lawyers every day. Everyone is working to resolve it as soon as possible and we have hope to have an announcement within the next couple of weeks for the definite theatrical plan for the film. Everyone’s been so supportive. 

When someone says the exact same thing using different words, that’s not what I call an “update”—that’s what I call “same old same old”.

Green Inferno to be “Released Soon”

I know I said I wasn’t going to name names, but Bloody Disgusting: You done told a lie! They reprinted the exact same quote from Eli Roth’s IGN interview—and that’s it. No one with half a brain could possibly read Roth’s words and conclude that the film is going to be “Released Soon”. Quite the opposite, really: The idea of 4 lawyers from 4 different companies trying to get on the same page sounds like a monumental cluster-fuck. Therefore, I’m calling you out for click-baiting! (I’m also not holding my breath for a release).

Green Inferno is Not a Remake of Cannibal Holocaust

While I’m at it, I’d like to take a moment to dispel another annoying rumor I’ve been hearing about The Green Inferno: That it’s a remake of Cannibal Holocaust. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

As I reported last November, Roth conceived of The Green Inferno as a tribute to Italian cannibalism films of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s (including Cannibal Holocaust). While “The Green Inferno” is the name of the film-within-the-film in Cannibal Holocaust, Roth’s Inferno is an original stand-alone.

It’s amazing how many Internet trolls continue to argue this point with me. Eli Roth’s Green Inferno is about student activists who are eaten by cannibals after their plane crashes in the Amazon. Is that what Cannibal Holocaust is about? Of course not! Is that what the film within Cannibal Holocaust is about? Fuck no! So stop saying it’s a remake and learn the definition of the word, “homage”.

Conclusion

Until they report on an official release date, there’s really nothing at all to discuss about The Green Inferno; nothing to update and certainly nothing that qualifies as news.

Believe me, I’m not trying to bum anyone out; I’m just as ticked off by the entire situation as the rest of you.

Have you been looking forward to the release of The Green Inferno? Sound off in the comments section!

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