2008

Last Call For CHOKE Movie Contest Submissions

Dennis — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:23:23 -0400

Chuck's new novel "Pygmy" is now being typeset. This means we have to get Chuck the winning contestant's name of the Choke Movie Contest, so he can include it as a character in the book. So consider this a last call for submissions.

If you participated in last weekend's contest and have pictures of you and friends holding you CHOKE movie ticket stubs, send them to: chokecontest@chuckpalahniuk.net.

I'm going to allow the weekend for people to send in photos. But the photos must be from last weekend. On Monday, the person who submits photos with the most people will win.

Chuck Palahniuk's October Essay, "A Story from Scratch, Act One"

Dennis — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:24:00 -0400

Apologies for posting this one late, but Chuck has something special for you today that I think you're all going to agree was worth the wait. For years now, fans have loved and coveted these essays Chuck provides the site, on how to improve your writing. But there's one aspect of his lessons that people have wished for the most:

For the next three essays I'll be presenting three drafts of a short story I'm writing for a Dark Delicacies anthology. Folks have been asking for this kind of in-progress demonstration. The first draft will be a day or two past Oct. 1st, but each draft will describe my process and choices -- and the finished, polished version will be out in the actual book.

Read Chuck's October Essay, A Story from Scratch, Act One

Want To Have Your Name In Chuck Palahniuk's Next Book?

Dennis — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:42:48 -0400

UPDATE: The emails have started coming in, so this is just an update to ask all of you now to send in pictures you took if you participated in this weekend's Choke contest. You can email them to me at: chokecontest@chuckpalahniuk.net.

Want to get a character named after you in Chuck Palahniuk's next book? All you have to do is get as many people as you possibly can to go see CHOKE this weekend.

Is this for real? You damn well bet it is. Clark Gregg and I got on the phone yesterday and decided that we needed to hit the ball out of the park this weekend with the box office numbers on CHOKE. You see, Hollywood does math a lot differently than you and I do. And we are, right now, in one of the most crowded seasons for the movie market. Last weekend, CHOKE opened against an $80 million dollar movie produced by Stephen Speilberg on a night when most of America was watching Barack Obama debate John McCain on almost every news channel on TV. And this weekend, CHOKE enters its second weekend on the three days when, according to Variety, "A whopping seven wide releases" hit the theaters, making it one of the worst bottlenecks for new releases in recent memory.

What does this mean for CHOKE? It means if CHOKE doesn't at least crack the top ten in this upcoming weekend's box office, it's chances for being around much longer are slim. What's sad is, CHOKE is competing against movies that opened up in over four times as many theaters. But it's still averaging better than most on a per theater basis! Why? Because it's a great film! And it's one that needs our support! And dammit, that's what we're gonna do!

Chuck Palahniuk In Paste Magazine

Dennis — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 18:10:24 -0400

Chuck Palahniuk is in the new October issue of Paste magazine:

When a young Chuck Palahniuk pitched his novel Invisible Monsters to publishers, it was rejected because it was too disturbing. His response was to fill his next novel, Fight Club, with even more disturbing and violent events and dub himself a writer of “transgressional fiction.” One of his favorite stories for live readings is the short story “Guts,” from his collection Haunted, because the accounts of masturbation that met a violent end caused several of his audience members to actually faint. His worlds are shocking, but his readers eat it up not simply because they like blood and guts—his stories aim to shock like a defibrillator, to wake you up from the mundane and remind you that while terrible things can always be around the corner, you might just be able to withstand them....

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/09/catching-up-with-chuck-pal...

IMPORTANT: We Need Everyone To See CHOKE This Weekend!

Dennis — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:58:51 -0400

Just like the news title says: We Need Everyone To See CHOKE This Weekend! If you planned on seeing it during the week, or even waiting to next weekend, or a couple weekends after that... don't.

We need you to see CHOKE this weekend. Now even. As soon as you're done with reading this, grab some friends, get your ticket, and head to the nearest theater showing it. (listings here)

The opening box office numbers for CHOKE might not mean much to you... but in the long-run, they'll mean a ton to the future life of other Chuck Palahniuk adaptations. 'Fight Club' was a box office failure, and did not make back, domestically, what it cost to make the film. As a result, we had to wait over eight years for our next Palahniuk adaptation.

So let's not let that happen again. Let's all make sure CHOKE hits a homerun this weekend. I'm sure that, with the Presidential Debate on last night, they took a hit in their Friday numbers. So let's make up for that today and tomorrow.

I know I'm talking to thousands of you here. And every one of you can make a difference. But it has to be THIS weekend.

Go see CHOKE now. Consider this a homework assignment from Chuck Palahniuk... the real Tyler Durden.

CHOKE Released In Theaters Today!

Dennis — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 14:37:07 -0400

The day is here. CHOKE is now playing in theaters nationwide. For a list of US & Canadian theater locations, check out this thread. (the Canadian list is lower in the thread)

For movie reviews and showtimes, check out Rotten Tomatoes page here.

I want to congratulate Clark Gregg and his crew on such a long journey to get this film made. It's taken him over five years to see this project to fruition. So let us all now celebrate by going out and enjoying the hell out of this film.

I've set this thread up so people can post their mini-reviews of CHOKE. I'd also like to hear about your experience going to the theater, meeting other Chuck fans, and even see some pictures!

Chuck Palahniuk's 5 Favorite Films

Dennis — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:36:41 -0400

So I got a very cool email yesterday. Ryan Fujitani, who works for one of the best sites online, Rotten Tomatoes, contacted me with a very cool feature. It seems they have a “5 Favorites” column on their site, in which they ask certain celebrities what their 5 Favorite movies are, and why. And guess who they got to cough up his list?

Check out Chuck Palahniuk's Five Favorite Films!

CHOKE Movie: Premiere Magazine Interview With Chuck Palahniuk

Dennis — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:15:23 -0400

Jenni Miller, a senior editor with Premiere.com, was at the press day for CHOKE in NYC and had a chance to interview Chuck Palahniuk.

Check out the full interview here:

http://www.premiere.com/article.asp?section_id=39&article_id=4711

Enjoy!

Chuck Palahniuk On Shoplifting

Dennis — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 21:43:53 -0400

This was recorded from Borders 1, while in Ann Arbor, MI, for Chuck's 'Snuff' tour. Chuck explains how to prevent stock shrinkage by teaching fans the best books to steal! Hysterical.

CHOKE Movie: Chuck Palahniuk's iTunes Podcast With Clark Gregg

Dennis — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:07:46 -0400

On August 30th, The Apple Store in SoHo, NY, featured a very awesome event. CHOKE director, Clark Gregg, sat down as moderator and interviewer with Chuck Palahniuk. The whole thing is almost an hour of great conversation and discussion about the history of CHOKE the book... and the movie.

Follow This Link To Be Brought Directly To The iTunes Podcast

This is a free download.