Cruel and Unusual Films
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The Stone Quarry (formerly Cruel and Unusual Films, Inc.) is an American production company established in 2004 by filmmaker
Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
, his wife Deborah Snyder and their producing partner Wesley Coller.


Establishment

Cruel and Unusual Films, Inc. was founded in 2004 by Zack Snyder, his wife Deborah Snyder, and producing partner Wesley Coller. The company is based at Warner Bros., and is located in
Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. ...
. The company signed a two-year production deal with Warner Bros. in 2007, prior to the theatrical release of '' 300'', a film in which Snyder served as director. Snyder and his wife, Deborah, are co-presidents of the company. Coller often serves as a producing partner. Snyder launched the company's official website on January 30, 2009, and invited artists to submit versions of the company logo. Apart from producing feature films, Cruel and Unusual Films has also assisted in the marketing of its films, based on the strong advertising backgrounds of Snyder and his wife, Deborah Snyder. By January 2019, Snyder announced the studio's new title, The Stone Quarry.


Background

To date, Cruel and Unusual/The Stone Quarry has served as an uncredited co-producer for films in which Snyder and his wife served as director and producer respectively. Following its establishment in 2004, the company produced '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of
George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...
's 1978 film of the same name. In 2007, Cruel and Unusual Films produced '' 300'', an adaptation of Frank Miller's
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
. In 2009, the company produced '' Watchmen'', an adaptation of the
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. ( doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with the ...
limited series of the same name. Cruel and Unusual next produced '' Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole'', a computer-animated film based on the series of children's fantasy books ''
Guardians of Ga'Hoole ''Guardians of Ga'Hoole'' is a fantasy book series written by Kathryn Lasky and published by Scholastic. The series contains a total of 16 books and although originally intended to conclude with the 2008 publication of ''The War of the Ember' ...
'' by Kathryn Lasky. ''Sucker Punch'' was co-written and directed by Snyder, who also produced the film with his wife Deborah Snyder. The film is the first that credits Cruel and Unusual as a producer. ''Sucker Punch'' was released on March 25, 2011. In 2014 the studio co-produced the sequel to 2007's ''300'', '' 300: Rise of an Empire''. In 2016 the studio co-produced the sequel to 2013's '' Man of Steel'', '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice''. In 2017 the studio co-produced ''
Wonder Woman Wonder Woman is a superhero created by the American psychologist and writer William Moulton Marston (pen name: Charles Moulton), and artist Harry G. Peter. Marston's wife, Elizabeth, and their life partner, Olive Byrne, are credited as bein ...
'' and '' Justice League''. In July 2015 it was revealed that
Zack Snyder Zachary Edward Snyder (born March 1, 1966) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer. He made his feature film debut in 2004 with '' Dawn of the Dead'', a remake of the 1978 horror film of the same name. Since t ...
and Deborah Snyder will serve as producers and executive producers in the
DC Extended Universe The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that ...
. Since 2018,
DC Films DC Studios is an American film and television studio that is a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. It is dedicated to the production of films, series, and animations based on characters from DC Comics, ...
chairmen Geoff Johns and
Walter Hamada Walter Hamada is an American film executive and producer. He joined New Line Cinema in 2007, where he served as an executive producer on horror films such as ''The Conjuring'' (2013), '' Annabelle'' (2014), ''The Conjuring 2'' (2016), '' Lights ...
will serve as executive producer on the future DC movies set in the DC Extended Universe, along with the Snyders. The studio was supposed to produce ''Army of the Dead'', a sequel to Snyder's ''Dawn of the Dead'' remake, in which Zack Snyder was supposed to assist in developing the story, while his wife to produce the film, and Joby Harold to write the screenplay. The story centers around a father trying to save his daughter in a zombie-infested Las Vegas. Due to the expensive production value, the production of the movie was cancelled by Warner Bros.


Future projects

Zack Snyder will also direct a remake of the 1969 film '' The Illustrated Man''. The company will also produce ''Horse Latitudes'', which was formerly known as ''The Last Photograph'', a film about a photograph that inspires two men to travel to South America. The film will be directed by Zack Snyder and will be produced by Snyder and his wife Deborah Snyder. In September 2017, it was confirmed that Zack Snyder is developing ''The Fountainhead'' adaptation, based on the 1943 novel from
Ayn Rand Alice O'Connor (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum;, . Most sources transliterate her given name as either ''Alisa'' or ''Alissa''. , 1905 – March 6, 1982), better known by her pen name Ayn Rand (), was a Russian-born American writer and p ...
. On January 29, 2019, Snyder announced that he had signed on to direct ''
Army of the Dead ''Army of the Dead'' is a 2021 American zombie heist film directed by Zack Snyder from a screenplay he co-wrote with Shay Hatten and Joby Harold, based on a story he also created. The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Dave Bautist ...
'', a zombie horror thriller, for
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
. Snyder would also produce with Deborah Snyder. On May 20, 2020, Snyder officially announced that Warner Bros. would be releasing his cut of ''Justice League'' as ''
Zack Snyder's Justice League ''Zack Snyder's Justice League'' (colloquially referred to as the Snyder Cut) is the 2021 director's cut of the 2017 American superhero film '' Justice League'', the fifth film set within the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) based on the team ...
'' on
HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...
in 2021. In September 2020, it was announced that Netflix had greenlit a prequel based on ''Army of the Dead'', with
Matthias Schweighöfer Matthias Schweighöfer (; born 11 March 1981) is a German actor, voice actor, film director, and producer. Early life Born in Anklam, Western Pomerania, Schweighöfer attended Berlin's renowned acting school Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Art ...
set to direct the film in addition to reprising his role as Ludwig.
Shay Hatten Shay Hatten (born March 1993/1994) is an American screenwriter and producer. He is best known for his work on '' John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum'' (2019), ''Army of the Dead'' and ''Army of Thieves'' (both 2021). Early life Hatten was born ...
will also pen the screenplay. It was also announced that an
anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
prequel series was in the works titled '' Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas''. The series will serve as an origin story for
Dave Bautista David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Dest ...
's character Scott Ward and his rescue team during the initial fall of Vegas as they confront the source of the zombie outbreak.
Jay Oliva Jay Oliva is an American storyboard artist, film producer and animated film director working at Los Angeles-based animation studio Lex+Otis. Career Oliva first started in animation as a cleanup artist for the animated Fox TV series '' Spider-M ...
is set to serve as showrunner for the series, with both Oliva and Zack Snyder set to direct two episodes each. In July 2021, the company signed a
first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...
with Netflix.


Productions


Films


Television


Video games


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone Quarry, The American companies established in 2004 Film production companies of the United States Companies based in Pasadena, California 2004 establishments in California