One of my favorite up-and-coming horror directors out there is David Bruckner, and today we have word that he is attached to helm Entertainment One’s high concept sci-fi flickOut There. Details are scarce on just what the project is about, but sources say the thriller centers on a family struggling to survive following a mysterious event that changes the course of the world. Sounds like fun to this guy! Even better still is that we hear the movie follows in the vein of Stephen King’s classic novellaThe Mist.
Stephen King’s The Mist, for those who somehow might not know, was adapted into a film starring Tom Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laurie Holden back in 2007 fromThe Shawshank RedemptionandThe Green Milewriter-director Frank Darabont. Not to compare apples to soul-devastating oranges, but let me just put out there that if thisOut Theremotion picture is even half as intense and heartbreaking as Darabount’s take on King’sThe MistI think we’re all in for a killer time at the movies.
Entertainment Onesnagged the rights to Ian Levy’s much sought-after screenplay recently and looks to be putting the film on the fast-track. And while I have you guys here, let me say that Levy has a fascinating history in the film business. The new screenwriter was at one point an executive at both the SyFy channel and Bravo before taking on producer duties on Uli Edel’s supernatural thrillerPay the Ghoststarring Nicolas Cage and Sarah Wayne Callies (The Walking Dead). Levy must have caught the writing bug on that film as he sold his first spec script soon after.
As for the business and production side ofOut There, Zev Foreman and Josie Liang will oversee production on behalf of Entertainment One and The Picture Company Partners Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman will produce. And let me say that the inclusion of Rona and Heineman behind the scenes comforts the genre fan in me. After all, Rona and Heineman have tons of experience in the genre producing films such as Jaume Collet-Serra’sThe Commuter,Non-Stop, andUnknown. Plus they’ve put out some horror offerings such as Sean Carter’sKeep Watchingstarring Bella Thorne, Chandler Riggs, and Ioan Gruffudd, and writer-director Todd Lincoln’sThe Apparitionstarring Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, and Tom Felton. They’re good people, let me put it that way.
Meanwhile, as mentioned above, directorDavid Bruckneris currently one of my favorite up-and-coming horror filmmakers out there. For those of you out there that might not be familiar with his brand, the man made a name for himself amongst genre fans over the past few years helming segments in such hit horror anthologies asSouthbound,V/H/S, andThe Signal. But Buckner really became a horror-household name last year when he directed Netflix’s killer adaptation of author Joe Barton’sThe Ritualstarring Rafe Spall, Arsher Ali, and Robert James-Collier. If you haven’t seen that film yet, do so tonight. It will scare the pants off you and yours. Bruckner is currently in pre-production onThe Night Housestarring Rebecca Hall and has the first and second episodes of Greg Nicotero and Shudder’s upcoming series based on George A. Romero and Stephen King’sCreepshowwaiting in the pipeline as well. I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait! This story comes to us viaDeadline.
