And apparently this is the same Skyscraper idea that was optioned by Universal back in 2008, pitched by one Mike Sobel. According to the original news report, the story

is set in the world’s first mile-high skyscraper, fictionally built in Chicago, and centers on the Donald Trump-style developer as well as on the daring crew that rushes in to save the tower when it starts to falter.

Some Towering Inferno potential here, perhaps? Walker will executive produce and star, with Neil H. Moritz acting as producer. No further details at this time.

CineTel Films are making sure this coming Christmas will be a complete disaster. Shooting has begun on The 12 Disasters of Christmas, starring Eureka’s Ed Quinn and directed by Steven R. Monroe. Here’s the short synopsis available at the moment:

When an ominous dark star appears in the sky on Christmas Eve, massive earthquakes and cataclysmic natural disasters shake the earth! Now a small band of heroes must come together to save the world!

Nothing brings holiday cheer like cataclysmic natural disasters, wouldn’t you agree? The film is slated for a Syfy premiere on December 23rd. Merry Christmas!

And the holiday disaster theme continues in the amazingly titled Independence Daysaster, also from CineTel, which has begun pre-production. No word on cast or crew yet. All we have is a promo poster and this short synopsis:

The 4th of July. America’s day of independence. A day for fireworks, celebrations, parades, and backyard barbecues. But this year, the residents of Moose Ridge are in for a holiday celebration they never expected…

And for our final piece of news this time, another effort from the above-mentioned Steven R. Monroe has entered post-production. End of the World stars Brad Dourif, Greg Grunberg och Neil Grayston and is, of course, headed for Syfy.

It’s the end of the world as we know it! Massive earthquakes violently shake cities and mysterious plasma spheres pummel the earth’s surface. Cries of ‘Armageddon’ echoes across the world as people are beyond terrified. A small group of survivors must equip themselves with everything needed to help them ride this disaster out. It’s the beginning of the end and earth’s only hope may lie in the hands of the most unlikely heroes.

I believe Grunberg and Grayston will play video store clerks, while Dourif is a scientist/sci-fi writer. IMDb calls it a comedy, and while we don’t really do comedy (except of the unintentional kind) here at Disaster Movie World, I figure what the heck.

It is a scientific fact that everyone in the known universe loves Bruce Campbell, but even the presence of the handsomely chinned and effortlessly cool Mr. Campbell can’t disguise the utter mediocrity of this rather blatant Twister rip-off. Hitting television screens three days before Twister opened at multiplexes everywhere, Tornado! takes the same basic concept and gives it the low-budget TV-movie treatment.

Bruce plays Texas storm chaser Jake Thorne, who has teamed up with Dr. Joe Branson (Ernie Hudson of Ghostbusters fame). Dr. Branson has spent the past six years developing a device, nicknamed PATTI (that looks strangely similar to Twister‘s Dorothy), to study tornadoes. Government grant auditor Samantha Callen (Shannon Sturges) arrives to evaluate Dr. Hudson’s project and decide if it is to recieve any more funding. Since the operation is headquartered at Jake’s grandfather’s farm, and there aren’t any hotels around, Ms. Callen accepts the offer to stay at the farm, and immediately changes to her best Wild West costume in order to blend in better.

The cast spend the next half-hour or so having a barbeque, getting drunk at a local bar, discussing tornadoes, and establishing the mutual attraction between Jake and Sam. Despite this, Samantha gets tired of waiting for anything to happen (echoing the viewer’s boredom at this point) and decides to go back to Washington. Jake is about to see her off at the airport when, at long last, a tornado actually shows up. Jake and company load the PATTI device into their car and speed across the prairie, only to realize that they’ve miscalculated the storm’s path. They can only watch in helpless horror as the twister levels the small town of Roseville.

Witnessing the aftermath of the Roseville tornado convinces Samantha that the research project is important, and she agrees to stay for a few more days. Jake’s grizzled old grandpa Ephram holds a personal grudge against tornadoes and doesn’t believe that science can deal with them – ”they have a devil’s heart”, he says. Based on nothing but gut feeling he predicts that a major twister will hit the farm. And guess what? Yep, one mother of a storm strikes right in the Thornes’ front yard, delivering the film’s single on-screen (well, almost) casualty and finally giving the team a chance to deploy the PATTI machine.

The likeable cast and none-too-serious tone of Tornado! can unfortunately not save it. Screenwriter John Logan went on to write big-time films like Gladiator, The Aviator and Hugo, so obviously he has learnt a thing or two about storytelling along the way, but Tornado! is mostly a clichéd piece of work. It’s the actors themselves, more than the characters they play or the dialogue they speak, that hold my attention.

Disaster movies short on actual disasters are rarely much fun, and this is the main reason that Tornado! fails. It takes too long for anything interesting to happen, and when it does it isn’t very exciting anyway. It is a tepid, talky drama with a few disappointing tornado scenes tacked on – not really surprising given that it’s a Hallmark disaster movie, but still. The most impressive images of threatening clouds and vicious lightning storms are stock footage. The rest is dodgy CGI and shots of debris being blown around, and the director frequently cuts away for a commercial break where someone with a bigger budget would have crafted detailed scenes of terrible destruction. Even the climactic final tornado is a rather asthmatic affair – for a disaster movie, at least – that manages to collapse a few rickety outhouses at the farm but not much more.

The good points are the aforementioned cast, that exhibits a winning charm, and the fact that the film – with the exception of the low-end visual effects – is a neat and tidy production.

Twister may annoy the hell out of some people – parts of it annoy the hell out of me, and I’m a disaster movie junkie – but it does what a tornado movie is supposed to do: deliver loads of tornado mayhem. Tornado! doesn’t. Some might argue that this pedestrian depiction of storm chasers and the storms they chase is more realistic than what goes on in Twister, but realism is not the reason I watch disaster movies. I want flying cows, goddamnit!

Rating: 1/5

Directed by: Andrew Stevens, Jim Wynorski
Starring: Kevin Sorbo, Gigi Erneta, Alex Meneses, Andrew Stevens, Maeghan Albach, Glenn Morshower

If you’re into exploitation, sexploitation or just general trash cinema, you might be familiar with the name Jim Wynorski, a.k.a. H.R. Blueberry, Jay Andrews, Salvadore Ross and a number of other pseudonyms. Mr. Wynorski is the auteur behind films like Not of This Earth (featuring Traci Lords’ first mainstream role), The Bare Wench Project and sure-to-be-classic Dinocroc vs. Supergator. With Fire From Below, he joins forces with writer/director/producer/actor Andrew Stevens and the thespian talents of Kevin Sorbo to bring us…a piece of junk. I love the disaster film genre, but sweet Jeebus what a load of horse hockey one has wade through to find the good stuff.

Kevin Sorbo is a brilliant (and dashing, it must be said) seismologist. Kevin’s present girlfriend is also a brilliant seismologist. Kevin’s ex-girlfriend works for Andrew Stevens, who is the greedy head of a mining operation digging lithium out of the ground. This particular form of lithium is fantastically reactive and could be used for weapons, which is a nice business plan right there. But the operation releases lithium gas which ignites instantly when it comes into contact with water, meaning the entire region is in lethal danger. As random people and finally an entire small town perish, Kevin Sorbo and the U.S. military respond in the only possible way: by blowing stuff up.

The screenwriting in Fire From Below can only be described as lax, giving the impression that the absolute minimum of effort was invested. It has a cut-and-paste feel with its completely generic storyline, flat dialogue and almost nonexistent characterizations. The supposedly funny oneliners are slightly embarrassing, and the acting is perfunctory. As for visual effects, a critical part of any self-respecting disaster film, they range from decent (the flaming gas clouds that chase our heroes) to pretty bad.

But let’s give credit where credit is due. Fire From Below is more bloodthirsty than many of its made-for-cable colleagues, and at least a couple of deaths are entertainingly creative. A small town is suffocated by the toxic gas and that sequence has some eerie potential. A waterskier is chased across a lake by a fireball that finally incinerates both her and her friends in the boat, and later a teenage kid taking a leak explodes as his urine ignites the reactive gas. The latter scene is one of the more original disaster movie deaths I’ve seen in a while, and that’s worth something. I LOL’d, as the kids say.

But is that enough to bump the rating an extra star? Sorry, but no. These short moments can’t really balance the not-really-trying feel that permeates much of this movie.

Rating: 1/5

And yes, I would love to see someone make this film for real. Awesome OTT concept, and certainly not too much sillier than some films that do exist…

Directed by: Gordon Yang
Starring: Lou Diamond Phillips, Nicole de Boer, Greg Evigan, Stephen MacDonald, Frank Schorpion, John Maclaren

I really, truly, deeply wish that I could report how Metal Tornado stunned me with its massive awesomeness… but unfortunately, it’s my duty to be honest and tell you that it’s another example of the predictable mediocrity of made-for-tv disaster movies. It’s by no means the worst the genre has to offer, but no more than just about okay for a slow Sunday afternoon.

And I say that with some sadness, because I liked the idea of a magnetic tornado when I first heard about this film. There are lots of interesting possibilities for large-scale destruction and general nastiness built into the concept of a vortex hurling all kinds of razor sharp items around. There are some scenes where something really gruesome seems about to happen – and then the script takes another, less bloody (and probably cheaper) route. I realize Metal Tornado is intended for television, and made for a moderate budget, but come on, guys! It’s a disaster movie! People are supposed to die. Horribly. On-screen, if possible.

Plot? Oh, right: Lou Diamond Phillips plays an astrophysicist employed by a company, Helios World, that has invented a method for collecting energy from solar flares, thereby solving the world’s energy problems once and for all. Just as the operation is about to go live, an ex-consultant with the company calls the CEO (Greg Evigan) and tells him that there is a dangerous design flaw in the system. Mr. CEO refuses to listen, and sure enough there is an incident during the first download of solar flare energy. Some of the energy escapes and creates a ”rogue magnetic vortex”, that roams around the countryside, gobbling up any metal within range. Lou Diamond Phillips, along with co-worker/girlfriend Nicole de Boer, realizes that Helios World is responsible for what’s going on, but Greg Evigan refuses to investigate – until the magnetic tornado heads for Philadelphia. Cue that service-minded part of the military that’s always eager to lend out some groundbreaking new weapons technology…

It’s the standard TV disaster movie setup with the standard cast of characters, and it’s all pretty much what you expect. Visual effects are mostly decent while the acting is all over the place: Lou Diamond Phillips gives it a good effort, and Greg Evigan portrays the Helios CEO as the greasiest executive I’ve seen for some time, while some of the supporting cast are on the amateurish side. There are no real surprises along the way, but it’s all reasonably competent, particularly compared to some other SyFy offerings.

The major problem with Metal Tornado is that after a promising beginning, the story gets bogged down in a tiresome succession of scenes with people looking at computer screens and talking on the phone, but precious little real action. As I said initially, this film squanders several good opportunities for disaster spectacle and grievous bodily harm. The setups are pretty good: I really liked the scene where a lumberjack starts his chainsaw, which is then pulled out of his grasp by the magnetic vortex and sent hurling through the air – but the guy escapes with a gash in his helmet. Later, the French arm of Helios World creates a vortex that tears Paris apart, but let’s not spend more than seven seconds on that part of the story, because it’s much more urgent to show what happens to a trailer on an empty field in rural Pennsylvania. A waste of potential, I say.

There are certainly some fun moments, but overall I like the concepts and setups more than the actual execution. Still, Metal Tornado is ever so slightly above average for low-budget TV disaster flicks. Primarily for genre fans, and possibly fans of Mr Phillips.

Rating: 2/5

Summit Entertainment has released the first promo picture for Paul W.S. Andersons Pompeii, along with a more detailed plot outline:

It’s late summer in 79 A.D. and the city of Pompeii glitters at the foot of the mighty Mt. Vesuvius. MILO, the slave of a shipping tycoon, dreams of the day he will buy his freedom and marry his master’s daughter, COLUMBA. What he doesn’t know is that Columba’s debt-ridden father has promised Columba to a despicable Roman Senator to pay off an overdue loan.

Milo does know that his friend, the Gladiator NIGELLUS, is being forced to compete the next day in a seemingly unwinnable battle in the Coliseum. As Milo tries to find a way to save his friend, he learns that Columba has been promised to another man and that he himself has been sold to a new master. Just as it seems things can’t get any worse, Mt. Vesuvius suddenly explodes with the power of 40 nuclear bombs, sending a torrent of 1,000-degree ash and smoke into the city. Lava flows down the mountainside, killing thousands. As Pompeii crumbles, Nigellus is imprisoned inside the Coliseum, Columba is locked inside her family’s villa, and Milo is trapped aboard a ship bound for Naples.

As the people of Pompeii flee the obliterated city, Milo is determined to return to it to save his friend and his beloved Columba. With fire and ash destroying the only world he’s ever known, an ordinary man is tested to his breaking point in this heart-pounding tale of extraordinary heroism.

As reported before, Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Alien vs. Predator) will direct from a script by Lee Batchler, Janet Scott Batchler (Batman Forever), and Julian Fellowes (Gosford Park). If all goes according to plan, shooting will start in spring 2012 and the film is slated for a 2013 release.

(Via Collider.com)

The project is listed as being in the pre-production stage. At the moment, the only thing we have to go on is a teaser trailer, a poster and a short synopsis:

Deep underwater in the Marianas Trench an accident results in a devastating Tsunami that destroys the Hawaiian Islands as it continues toward the west coast. Panic ensues all up and down the western coast of North and South America. In an attempt to lessen its impact, scientists launch an underwater explosion that inadvertently makes the tsunami more powerful and focused on Los Angeles. Scientists rush to a solution while the military begins planning for the worst. Los Angeles begins emergency evacuation. Lives and loves are lost even as a brash young grad student comes up with a solution: start the mother of all earthquakes to counter the rushing torrent and raise the continental shelf off the coast of the United States.

Whatever happens, it doesn’t look good for Los Angeles…

I’m not familiar with TomCat Films, but they seem to be focusing on high concepts, low budgets and the occasional mockbuster. Their backlist includes titles like Aliens vs. Avatars and The Amazing Bulk (yes, really), so I think we can sort them in the same box with The Asylum, UFO and CineTel. Good to get to know you, guys.

Teaser trailer below.

For more upcoming disaster films, check out the Coming Attractions page.

According to the LA Times, New Line Cinema is planning a big earthquake disaster movie titled San Andreas 3D. The screenplay is written by Allan Loeb (21, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). According to reporting by Deadline New York, writers Jeremy Passmore & Andre Fabrizio wrote the original script and Loeb was brought in to polish it up. Producer Beau Flynn (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Journey to the Center of the Earth) is also connected to the project.

According to the LAT report,

the hero is forced to go on the road to reconcile with his children and his estranged wife, who’s moved away and taken up with another man

Nothing more about the plot as of now, but the promise of watching the San Andreas fault wreaking havoc to western U.S. is enough to make me interested. No director or cast connected. And as the title indicates, this will supposedly be a 3D film.

Will certainly keep a close eye on this one.

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For more on new and upcoming disaster films, check out Coming Attractions.