District 9 was a huge success this year, earning $199 Million worldwide, considering the budget was only about $30 Million. Ya know how Transformers kind of set in motion the trend of toy based movies or how Twilight kind of excited Hollywood’s desire in making more vampire-themed movies? A filmmaker in Uruguay wants to make his own type of District 9, not a reboot, not a sequel, but he’ll have a guardian angel too just like how Neil Blomkamp was mentored by the great Peter Jackson…
Filmjunk first translated the report over at El Pais that states young Uruguayan filmmaker Federico Alvarez who made the short film PANIC ATTACK! that became a YouTube hit, has signed a contract with Sam Raimi’s production company, Ghost House Pictures, to make his sci-fi feature directorial debut with a budget of $30-$40 Million. Another comparison to District 9.
The website went on to say that Raimi spoke with Alvarez on the phone and the idea would be for Raimi to “shield him from the business side of things in order to give him the freedom to make the movie he wants” another comparison to District 9. Filming will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Montevideo, Uruguay. Another comparison to District 9 which was set in Johannesburg, most big budget alien movies in the past were always set in NYC or L.A. or major cities of the world.
Variety has confirmed this info with an addition that the movie will be about Alien Invasion.
Ghost House has locked a deal with Alvarez that guarantees him six figures to wait while a high-end screenwriter gets hired to turn the idea into a feature. The six-figure deal will be applied against a seven-figure fee if Ghost House makes the film
The short film PANIC ATTACK! was about giant apocalyptic robots attacking a city. Judging from the video below, I say not bad for a $500 budget. But as a big fan of District 9, I have my doubts that Alvarez would be able to pull off similar quality, bring it on!
