Now considered a cult classic, writer/director David Prior talks about a potential the empty man 4K physical release. Based on the Boom! Studios graphic novel of the same name, the film centers on a former detective whose investigation into the disappearance of a friend’s daughter leads down a dark rabbit hole involving the titular legend and his minions. James Badge Dale led the cast of the empty man next to Marin Ireland, Out‘s Stephen Root, Ron Canada, and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s Robert Aramayo.
While speaking exclusively with screen frenzy to discuss his work in Guillermo del Toro .’s Cabinet of CuriositiesDavid Prior was asked about the chances of a physical 4K release of the empty man. The writer/director shared the feeling of many that it would get such a release, namely because he used his past as a DVD producer to develop a large number of special features for a “beautiful 4K masterhome release. See what Prior shared below:
Your lips to God’s ears, man, I would hope so, I don’t know how to make it happen. The studio just decided that for whatever their internal reasons they didn’t want to do it. We had obviously prepared for it, there’s probably half an hour of deleted scenes, there’s a lot of stuff behind the scenes. There are little teaser trailers and stuff that I clipped while we were cutting the movie, there was quite a bit set aside to put on there. But they just didn’t want it. So I hope that as the desire for it continues to grow, someone will come along and give it away from them, or they will decide they want to do it themselves. I probably shouldn’t say what I really think, but it’s a thorn in my side that it doesn’t exist. There’s a wonderful 4K master standing by and waiting, and to have started making special edition DVDs it’s a particularly hard rock to swallow that it’s not out but you know my fingers are crossed .
How the Empty Man Became a Modern Cult Classic
the empty manThe film’s development history became a point of shame for the film when Fox’s former executive vice president of production Mark Roybal left the studio, leaving Prior without an executive he believed to have trusted his original vision for the film. The horror film would then begin to suffer from poor test screenings, leading to the 20th century cutting their own 90-minute version of the film, which ironically tested even worse. Prior would get the chance to deliver his last cut for the empty man‘s release, which he still considers a rough edit.
Given their lack of confidence in the project, 20th Century eventually decided to pull out the empty man in theaters with very little marketing or fanfare from the studio, and quietly releasing it in just over 2,000 theaters nationwide. Although it opened for a modest $1.3 million on its debut weekend, it would suffer a major drop of just $561,000 in its second, ultimately bringing in just $5 million from its reported $16 million production budget. The film also received some bad reviews from both critics and audiences upon its initial release, with many calling it another lackluster installment in the creepypasta-inspired genre, such as Slender man and The Bye Bye Man.
Despite this, the empty man began to find better reviews for its digital and streaming releases, leading many to later laud it as a cult classic for its atmospheric storytelling, Prior’s classy directing, and Dale’s impressive lead character in the film. Since the film has yet to receive a physical release, the growing cult followings have been calling for the horror film to add a 4K Ultra-HD version to their collections, the demands of which are sure to grow with Prior teasing there.”quite a bit set asidefor special features. As audiences continue to call Disney and 20th Century Studios for: the empty man‘s 4K physical release, can they catch up with Prior’s episode in Guillermo del Toro .’s Cabinet of Curiosities now streaming on Netflix.
