Guess Who's Corman To Dinner?

There'd been a rumor that it wouldn't just be martial arts legend Yuen Woo-Ping getting recognition at Fantastic Fest, and now it's confirmed. The reigning royalty of B-movies Roger and Julie Corman will receive the "Syfy Imagine Greater" Lifetime Achievement Award, and they're bringing their new feature Sharktopus with them.

With 393 producer credits and 56 "directed by"s on IMDB, Roger is rightfully known as the King of the B-Movies. Not that Julie is exactly a slacker: She's helped discover a big slab of talent that got their break through the Corman movie making machine, including Jonathan Demme, James Cameron, Ron Howard, Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson, Charles Bronson, Robert De Niro, and Sylvester Stallone. Seriously. Now you see why they're getting this award.

Praising the couple as "the single greatest inspiration in the development of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema," and calling himself "humbled and honored" by their visit, festival director Tim League said, "Fostering independent cinema, employing all manner of ballyhoo to accentuate the theatrical experience and trying to make sure audiences have a blast at the cinema every time; These are the cornerstones of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, and my wife and I have drawn inspiration from the very beginning from Roger and Julie Corman."

Sharktopus will screen in a double-bill gala with documentary Machete Maidens Unleashed! on Fri. Sept. 24. Director Mark Hartley (who uncovered the history of Ozploitation in Not Quite Hollywood) featured Corman heavily in his history of Philippine-made exploitation movies.