Dark Castle Entertainment is an American film production label, it is a division of Silver Pictures, a production house formally affiliated with Warner Bros., now affiliated with Universal Studios. It was formed in 1999 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler. Susan Downey was the Vice President of Development until February 2009, a term running congruent to her tenure as a VP of Production at parent company Silver Pictures.
Dark Castle Entertainment's name pays homage to William Castle, a horror filmmaker from the 1950s and 1960s. When first formed, the goal was to remake Castle's horror films (very similar to another production company Platinum Dunes). After two remakes, it moved on to producing original material, along with remakes of non-Castle films. Starting with RocknRolla, the company began producing films in genres other than horror. Initially, most of the company's films were mostly critically panned, however recently their film Splice has received better reviews by critics.
Dark Castle Entertainment originally acquired the US rights to The Loft, as they did for Splice, with the intention of releasing the film through Warner Bros. When Joel Silver moved his office to Universal, he took Dark Castle, and the film with him. Universal planned to release the film on August 29, 2014, but the studio pulled it from the schedule in favor of As Above, So Below. Universal and Dark Castle dropped the film, which was then picked up by Open Road Films, who released the film on January 30, 2015. There hasn't been any news about Dark Castle since.
Jason Blum has spoken to Joel Silver twice about doing a co-production with Blumhouse Productions for Universal to distribute but they haven't found the right project yet.
Five married men share ownership of an upmarket loft, which they use to discreetly meet their respective mistresses. When the body of a murdered woman is found in that loft, the men begin to suspect each other of having committed the gruesome crime, as they are the only ones with keys to the premises. Through flashbacks, which are intertwined with scenes from the present, the story is unraveled.
Washed up former race driver Brent Magna (Ethan Hawke) arrives home to find his house ransacked and his wife, Leanne, missing. He then receives a phone call from a mysterious man known only as The Voice (Jon Voight), who reveals himself as the kidnapper of Magna's wife. The man tells Magna that he must follow a set of instructions precisely in order to be reunited with his wife. The Voice orders Magna to steal a specially customized Shelby Mustang from a parking garage. The Voice warns Magna that if he does not follow the instructions or is caught, Leanne will die.
In the city of New Orleans, hitman Jimmy Bobo and his partner Louis Blanchard kill a corrupt former WDCPD policeman, Hank Greely, although Bobo leaves a prostitute, Lola, alive. Later, at a bar, Blanchard is murdered by Keegan, who also attempts to kill Bobo, but fails.
In Buffalo, New York, a man named Gary picks up a prostitute and takes her to his home. When he spots that she is transsexual, he angrily murders her, cuts up the body, and places the pieces in a freezer. Meanwhile, Mike Fletcher, a detective, becomes obsessed with the case, which is under threat of being shut down due to its inactivity. A troubled Thanksgiving holiday dinner reveals that he has been ignoring his family, including his rebellious daughter, Abby. Following an argument with her mother, Abby sneaks out of the house to be with her boyfriend Tad. At the diner where he works, Tad breaks up with her, and Abby runs outside. Tad sees her talk to a person in a car; when he next looks, she has disappeared. Gary kidnaps Abby and chains her up in his basement, where he keeps two other young women prisoner, Brittany and Lauren, who suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.
On May 21, 1973, six people conduct The Charles Experiment, a parapsychological experiment, in which they stare at a drawing of a deceased man, Charles Reamer, hoping to summon his spirit. Years later, four college students, Patrick (Tom Felton), Lydia (Julianna Guill), Ben (Sebastian Stan) and Greg (Luke Pasqualino) attempt to recreate the Charles Experiment on a larger scale by using modern technology. During the experiment, something attacks the students and pulls Lydia into the wall.
St. Jude Square is a neighborhood living in fear and despair. The dueling gangs of local kingpins, Dash and Antoine, terrorize the streets, and the citizens live without a shred of hope until mysterious stranger, Ryan Hong (Cung Le) arrives. He begins to play one gang against the other, by calling on the teachings of his mentor, Tiano (Jean-Claude Van Damme), to find the strength to battle back. However, just as he begins to bring the community under control, Hong is confronted by Mr. V (Peter Weller), the town's corrupt police chief. At first Mr. V is impressed by Hong's skill, but soon sees Hong as a threat to his regime and the two are locked in a head to head battle, pitting the fear and corruption of Mr. V's regime against the new beginning Hong represents for the people of St. Jude Square.
Dr. Martin Harris and his wife Liz arrive in Berlin for a biotechnology summit. Martin realizes he left his briefcase at the airport and takes a taxi to retrieve it. When they are involved in an accident, the driver, Gina, rescues him and flees the scene, as she is an illegal immigrant. Martin regains consciousness at a hospital after having been in a coma for four days.
The Losers are an elite black ops team of United States Special Forces operatives, led by Clay (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and formed by Roque (Idris Elba), Pooch (Columbus Short), Jensen (Chris Evans), and Cougar (Óscar Jaenada), who are sent to Bolivia in a search and destroy mission on a compound run by a drug lord. While painting a target for an upcoming air strike, the Losers spot slave children in the compound and try to call off the attack, but their superior, codenamed "Max" (Jason Patric), ignores their pleas.
Genetic engineers Clive Nicoli (Adrien Brody) and Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) hope to achieve fame by splicing animal DNA to create hybrids for medical use at the company N.E.R.D. (short for Nucleic Exchange Research and Development). Their work previously yielded Fred, a dog-sized vermiform creature intended as a mate for their female specimen, Ginger. After successfully mating them, Clive and Elsa plan to create a human-animal hybrid that could revolutionize science. Their employers Joan Chorot (Simona Maicanescu) of N.E.R.D. and William Barlow (David Hewlett) forbid them from doing this. Instead, they are to find and extract proteins used for commercial drug production from Fred and Ginger. Clive and Elsa pursue their own agenda in secret. They develop a viable female creature (Abigail Chu).
Kate and John Coleman (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard) are experiencing strains in their marriage after their third child was stillborn. The loss is particularly hard on Kate, who is also recovering from alcoholism. The couple decides to adopt a 9-year-old Russian girl, Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman) from a local orphanage. While Kate's and John's deaf daughter Max (Aryana Engineer) embraces Esther immediately, their son Daniel (Jimmy Bennett) is less welcoming. Kate suspects that there might be problems in Esther's background when Esther's knowledge of sex extends beyond her age. Her suspicions deepen when Esther seriously injures another girl who had bullied her.
Inside a Russian cargo plane flying above Antarctica. In the cargo hold, three Russians sit with a padlocked box. The co-pilot leaves his seat and goes into the cargo hold, and then begins to shoot the other men, who return fire. The chaos caused by the gunfight leads to a crash which kills all aboard. In modern times, newcomers arrive at the United States' Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station in Antarctica, while others who are scheduled to leave are preparing to do so early because of a storm. They must depart before the onset of winter or remain for six months. Deputy U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) has been working in Antarctica for two years, since a betrayal by her partner in Miami that killed him and nearly killed her. She plans to retire after returning to the United States in two days.
A young American computer engineer (Shane West as Max) acquires a mobile phone that receives strange text messages. First they encourage him to miss his flight which crashes soon after takeoff. Then the messages direct him to buy a certain stock, which increases by 313%. Next, the messages direct him to a hotel/casino in Prague to gamble. He first wins one-hundred thousand Euro on a slot machine and bets the entire amount on a hand of blackjack, which he wins. Max then has an altercation with a beautiful woman (Tamara Feldman) and her jealous boyfriend in the hotel corridor, where he is knocked-out, and his mysterious phone is apparently scanned. Max wakes up with the smiling woman, Kamila, and asks her out for a drink.
Tyler is obsessed with the film, considered being the scariest movie ever made, with the deranged serial-killer Babyface in the lead role. However, the director, Wilson Wyler Concannon, and the movie vanished many years ago and there is no known copy. When Tyler discovers that Concannon's daughter Alexa works in a night club, he decides to meet her and ask about the lost film. Tyler's obsession with the film causes him to neglect his girlfriend Serena. He visits Alexa, who works as a stripper, and asks her about the project. As she gives him a nude lap dance, the audience sees Serena cheating on Tyler with their best friend Lalo. After Tyler helps Alexa with her addiction to heroin, she tells him that the movie might be in her father's home in the woods.
Raizo is raised by the Ozunu Clan to become the most lethal ninja assassin in the world. As an orphaned child, Raizo was taken in by Lord Ozunu and is enrolled in severe brutal training to become the next successor of their ninja clan. The only kindness he was ever shown was from a young kunoichi named Kiriko, with whom he eventually develops a romantic bond. As time goes on, Kiriko becomes disenchanted with the Ozunu's routine and wishes to abandon it for freedom. One rainy night, Kiriko decides to make her escape and encourages Raizo to join her; however he decides to stay. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko was caught and later executed in front of Raizo by their elder ninja brother Takeshi, impaling her through the heart. As a result of Kiriko's death, Raizo begins to harbor resentment and doubt towards the Ozunu; however, this is shown to be in the past.
In London, the British mob boss Lenny Cole (Tom Wilkinson) rules the growing real estate business using a corrupt Councillor (Jimi Mistry) for the bureaucratic services and his henchman Archy (Mark Strong) for the dirty work. A billionaire Russian businessman, Uri Omovich (Karel Roden), plans a crooked land deal, and London's crooks all want a piece of it. Other key players include the underhand accountant Stella (Thandie Newton) and ambitious small-time crook One-Two (Gerard Butler) leading a group called the "Wild Bunch" which includes Mumbles (Idris Elba) and Handsome Bob (Tom Hardy).