Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I gotta say, this news doesn't make me happy. I love Ellen Page and I love the idea of her headlining Sam Raimi's return to horror with DRAG ME TO HELL, but it seems like she had to drop out. Bloody-Disgusting had the story first, then hours later an official press release went out. Here's the press release:

Los Angeles (February 29, 2008) – Ellen Page is no longer available for Sam Raimi's supernatural thriller Drag Me to Hell due to scheduling conflicts caused by a change in the start date of the production.

The film is directed by Sam Raimi and written by Raimi and his brother Ivan.

In a joint statement from Ghost House Pictures and Mandate Pictures:

"We were racing to start production so that we could accommodate Ellen's schedule. But like so many other productions trying to start before the potential SAG strike date, this one needed more time and we had to push back the start of production."

BD says Page didn't like the latest draft of the script, contradicting what the official statement claims.

I really want Raimi to knock this one out of the park. I love his previous entries into horror and I've been waiting patiently for him to return. I hope Page dropping out was more a case of not wanting to follow up her JUNO nom with a horror film and less a reaction to a sub-par script. Anyone out there read it? Email me and let me know how it is.

Thoughts?