Craig Ross Jr. To Direct Vampire Slave Movie Set in Civil War Southby Wilson Morales
November 14, 2011
Filmmaker and television director Craig Ross Jr. is directing the supernatural vampire drama ‘Rise Again,’ starring Matthew Marsden (Transformers) and John Savage (The Deer Hunter).
Written and produced by Jerry Quickley, the movie is the story of two brothers who are Confederate soldiers, and their struggle to rid themselves of a curse and return home to their family after the war ends. The movie features vampires and zombies and turns race-relations on its head.
Filming began late October in Natchez, Mississippi and will finish shooting late November with an early 2013 release.
With Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated ‘Django Unchained’ with Jamie Foxx and Steve McQueen‘s ‘12 Years a Slave’ with Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt, it appears that slave dramas are taking center stage in Hollywood right now.
Director Craig Ross Jr. added, “We’ve created a strain of vampires that were born out of this region of the country. The vampires and zombies are an accepted part of the culture, and help tell the story of human struggle in post-civil war rebuilding.” With the intersection of supernatural elements and racial tensions, ‘Rise Again’ maybe an interesting addition to both the vampire lore and Hollywood schematic.
Craig Ross Jr. has directed television episodes of ‘NCIS’, ‘Bones’, ‘Prison Break’, and ‘Numbers’. The Boston, MA native also directed the urban cult films ‘Blue Hill Avenue,’ ‘Ride or Die,’ and ‘Motives.’
Next up, Ross returns to his passion project as producer and director on JANE, an action crime thriller about a female assassin who battles inner conflicts propelling her into a life of emptiness and immorality.
