One of the first things I posted on the new Sidebar blog was a fake trailer for a film called Clown which featured a father dressing up as a clown for his son’s sixth birthday party only to have the costume take him over, turning him into an evil monster. The trailer had Hostel helmer Eli Roth’s name attached as director, which wasn’t true, but a nice way to get attention, which it did when Roth tweeted about it saying, “This is so good even I thought it was real.” Well, now it is.
In a press release I received yesterday, it was announced Cross Creek Pictures and Vertebra Films have partnered to fully finance two horror projects with Eli Roth producing. The first is Clown and the second is a film called Aftershock. Here’s what the release had to say:
The first project Roth will produce is Clown, with Jon Watts directing and Watts and Christopher D. Ford writing the screenplay. Watts has directed numerous commercials as well as music videos for artists including Fatboy Slim and TV On The Radio.
Clown follows the story of a loving father who dons a clown outfit and make-up to perform at his son’s sixth birthday, only to later discover the costume – red nose and wig included – will not come off, and his own personality changing in horrific fashion. To break the curse of the evil outfit, the father must make grim choices with his own family facing danger.
Clown recently appeared on the internet as a viral video “trailer” put together by Ford and Watts. Boldly splashing industry names such as Lionsgate, Screen Gems and Roth himself, the Hostel-esque trailer gained Ford and Watts immediate notoriety and meetings with Roth, Prince and Oliver. Production is aiming for the first quarter in 2011.
The second project, Aftershock, is a high-octane horror-thriller set during the aftermath of the February 27, 2010 Chilean earthquake. The plot details are being kept tightly under wraps, but the story is inspired the catastrophe that claimed more than 480 lives and registered an 8.8 on the Richter scale.
The screenplay will be written by Roth alongside Latin-American filmmakers Nicolás López and Guillermo Amoedo, with López set to direct. López, who hails from Chile, recently directed the Spanish-language hit Fuck My Life or FML (Que Pena Tu Vida), the highest grossing Chilean-produced film of 2010, which has grossed more in Chile than such U.S. productions as The Social Network, Eat Pray Love and Salt.
Cross Creek will handle distribution on the two films and when it comes to Clown Roth was quoted in the press release saying, “I was blown away when I saw that Clown trailer. Everyone thought it was real, or that I had at least made a fake trailer. I called the guys right away and their first response was ‘Thank you for not suing us!’ I said ‘Sue you? Let’s make this into a real film!’ They are incredibly talented, smart guys ready to make their feature debut.”
Have a look at the trailer that started it all directly below.
