Editor’s note: We’ve had two tip-offs from two of our blog readers (who have wished to remain anonymous) who have confirmed it is not just Mike who has been making trips to Vegas this year. Several other A&D members and Universal Orlando executives have also been making the rounds in Sin City since January. So thank you for your messages – please do keep them coming! Together we can work this puzzle out!
The mission to ensure both Orlando and Hollywood work together is continuing.
As preciously rumored by us HERE back in February, it would appear that both teams are very close to signing up a third-party IP to be a house on both coasts this year.
HHN Orlando posted the above tweet after the, what can be described as successful(?) pitch, to the IP holder. Murdy on his Twitter feed confirmed the joint meeting, but he also mentioned that it was for a “movie studio”, so for him it would be nearby as they were both still in LA at the time of the tweets. Warner Bros is right next door to Universal City, likewise Paramount and Fox are also a short drive away. Lionsgate is also nearby on the coast within Santa Monica (just down the road), so thats another possible. Warner Bros, incidentally, now holds the new head office of New Line Cinema, after it moved to LA from New York City recently. Likewise, its also possibly not Legendary Pictures, as they are tied to Universal already, though anything is possible with these clues. Legendary already has a deal with the Universal to make HHN houses, read more HERE, so this might refer to other studios where links aren’t so formal just yet.
So what could it be? It was rumored previously by us that Krampus could be on both coasts, however, these posts would suggest that the movie would be something from outside the Universal family, which as Krampus is made by Legendary that would rule this movie out (though it is still probably going to appear at one of the coasts!).
If we went with the idea that New Line Cinema are the company who they presented to this would add some fuel to the rumors that The Conjuring could be coming soon to HHN (cob-webs anyone?), incidentally The Conjuring 2 is set for release on June 10, 2016. So some cross-marketing around “reveal-time” in June (when individual houses are sometimes revealed early), could be a nice tie-in to the release date of this movie. Perhaps a commercial at the end of the trailer for HHN26 could be used? They have done this type of thing before with SAW and The Wolfman movie, though the latter was a Universal picture…
Or, they may have gone down to the beaches of Santa Monica to see Legendary Pictures, who have a certain movie about a certain chainsaw wheedling maniac coming soon, you may have heard of him? The movie Leatherface is due for release this fall. This would bring back everyone’s favourite chainsaw mad monster, who was absent from HHN25, and has not been seen at the event since he appeared with Freddy and Jason in 2007.
Both ideas are possible, particularly as Mike Aiello from HHN Orlando prevented himself from working on a plane as he flew to LA, which some have speculated as being work to houses based on movies that have yet to be released, so this would fit these two movies as they haven’t been released yet and little is actually known about them!
Interestingly though, Mike was then on a plane heading away from the city shortly after the pitch. And anyone who has driven in LA knows that LA at rush hour is HELL, it was also stormy yesterday in LA so it was much worse than usual. However, he was on his plane pretty quick with all things considered, which LAX (the airport he used) is just up the road from Legendary Pictures HQ – so in terms of timings this would also work (just call me Sherlock). I once got from Santa Monica beach to LAX in 15 minutes, so its pretty close!
BUT more interestingly than that!! He flew to Las Vegas, AGAIN. That’s like the third trip this year to Vegas now? It’s obviously work related as he’s usually on his own. So what’s he up to?
Well according to his own Twitter and Instagram feeds, he’s enjoying watching David Copperfield’s Magic Show. And Mike LOVES magic, he’s confirmed this enough in the past. So what else could he possibly be doing?
Well, we rumored back in February, with HHNRumors.com providing some excellent subsequent investigative work a few weeks later, that Penn and Teller are definitely a strong possibility for HHN26. The fact that nearly every month Mike flies into their town would also really add fuel to this rumor.
Mike then tweeted the above news of his successful week away in la la land. The tweet confirmed he was in Vegas, it also confirmed his exact location that he sent the tweet from as Paradise NV. For those of you that don’t know, Paradise is a district within Vegas that encompasses most of the famous Strip, but not all of it. It does however hold the famous Rio Hotel, which being off the Strip is annexed away from most resorts in Paradise. And guess which famous magical duo have their show and offices in the Rio? Yep, you guessed it, Penn and Teller. Both of whom are most definitely there this week rehearsing and performing (as confirmed by their respective Twitter feeds) for their TV show.
So there you have it, we have Penn and Teller still in the fold, The Conjuring, Leatherface and even Krampus still. And not one single mention of The Walking Dead!!!! Hurray!!
But what will actually be at HHN26 is still unknown…. so what are your thoughts?
We’d love to hear them!
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