No Creepshow in his future
Having seen his gory romp Dead & Breakfast amass a cult following, director Matt Leutwyler is eagerly awaiting the premiere of his sophomore effort titled Unearthed – this creature feature bows at the Tribeca Film Fest this Friday. Now he’s on the cusp of pre-production for Below the Surface which he’s developing with Ambush Entertainment.
“We’re going to do it with another company called Sekretagent,” Leutwyler tells Shock. Sekretagent made headlines last spring when they partnered with Avatar Films to purchase the big screen adaptation rights to the video game “Cold Fear.” Leutwyler says his third feature is a heady endeavor that’s more in the vein of Jacob’s Ladder. “Sekretagent brought the script to us initially and it’s probably the best thing I’ve had my hands on, so I’m really excited about that.”
He’s awaiting one more draft from screenwriter Shawn Kelly before casting begins. An aim is to start shooting sometime in November, “probably in Puerto Rico since it has a real tropical feel,” the director adds. “[‘Below’] deals with a pharmaceutical company who’s developing this drug that keeps people awake for days on end, functioning people so they can fly planes for days or be in the army. There are a group of scientists who get caught in the crossfire between a military coup and the government, so they wind up dead. A group of mercenaries and scientists is sent to retrieve all of this data and the bodies and of course, when they get there, it’s not exactly what they thought it was. Weird shit starts happening. It flows and you’re moving through it but there’s a lot to miss if you don’t keep your eyes open.”
Leutwyler is hesitant divulge any more of the plot but he emphasizes the script is a solid thriller steeped in a little science fiction.
On rumor control, Shock asks about his involvement in Warner Bros.’ proposed Creepshow remake – a title gobbling up precious resume space on his IMDB page. “I don’t know why that’s there,” he laughs. “I sent IMDB a letter saying that I’m not directing the movie and they took it off. Later it’s back up saying I’m writing the movie.” The director hypothesizes the rumor came from a Scottish website devoted to Stephen King where they may have suggested Leutwyler would be the ideal man for the job. “I don’t even think ‘Creepshow’ is being done any more. The producers of that film called my agent and were asking about me – they chatted for a while and it didn’t sound like [‘Creepshow’] was happening anymore because they were actually talking about another movie.”
Source: Ryan Rotten
