Filmmaker Charles Band has a career that stretches back into the 1970s, and over the decades he has brought more than four hundred genre movies into the world. He’s best known for launching the company Full Moon, which got its start with the classic Puppet Master back in 1989. All these years later, Full Moon is still going strong – and it looks like 2026 is going to be a great year for the company. A while back, they launched a poll where fans to choose their next ten productions, with fourteen options to pick from. One of the winners was a project called The Grim Rapper, which has been on the Full Moon “to do” list for a long time… and this weekend, The Grim Rapper is set to start filming!
Synopsis and Director
When a different version of The Grim Rapper was announced several years ago, it was going to be directed by William Butler from a script by C. Courtney Joyner. At the time, the project had the following description: The year is 1996. After the East-Coast West-Coast hip-hop war leaves a notorious L.A. gangsta rapper shot dead, the resurrected thug returns as a relentless killing machine, hellbent on revenge! He’s “The Grim Rapper”, determined to wipe out the posse that did him wrong by executing his targets with his gruesome weapon of choice: a massive skull-laden boom-box that obliterates anyone in its path with deadly beats blasted straight outta Hell! As the bodies pile up, the streets run red and everyday hustlin’ turns into a hip-hoppin’ horrorshow!
Now The Grim Rapper has the following synopsis, showing that Joyner’s script has been updated to a modern setting: When a greedy record executive uses AI to resurrect a murdered hip-hop legend, the rapper’s vengeful spirit returns with a cursed boom box, trapping a grieving lover and her friends inside a recording studio where the dead hunt the living one beat at a time.
When filming begins this weekend, Hugo Velazco will be at the helm, making his feature directorial debut. Velazco is already a trusted member of the Full Moon team, though, as he has been working in the marketing department for at least ten years.
Behind the Scenes
As the project gears up for production, Full Moon has shared a couple of behind-the-scenes videos that feature the title character’s cursed boom box:
Are you glad to hear that The Grim Rapper will finally start filming soon? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
