District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is set to helm a new alien abduction thriller titled They Found Us for AGC Studios and Temple Hill, and the project has now found its lead.
Deadline reports that Joel Kinnaman (For All Mankind, The Suicide Squad) is set to star in the movie, which will follow a father and his daughter Kaylee as they undertake a camping trip in the Utah wilderness to heal their broken relationship.
"After being attacked by a hostile extraterrestrial lifeform, their lives — not just their relationship — wind up at stake, as they fight with a humanoid beast to stop their abduction to an unknown and terrifying alien world."
Blomkamp was all set to helm an Alien movie (believed to be a direct sequel to James Cameron's Aliens) before the project fell through, so it'll be interesting to see if any of his ideas carry over for They Found Us.
The film is based on an original screenplay by Jeremy Slater, whose credits include Moon Knight, Fantastic Four, The Exorcist, The Lazarus Effect and The Umbrella Academy.
Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen will produce for Temple Hill Entertainment, with Stuart Ford on board to exec produce alongside Temple Hill’s John Fischer.
“We’re delighted to extend our relationship with Neill, who is a master of the sci-fi and horror genres,” said Ford in a statement. “Jeremy Slater’s taut terrifying screenplay is a perfect match for Neill’s visual talents and the proven audience-pleasing instincts of our partners at Temple Hill.”
Added Godfrey, “We’re so excited to be working with Neill and Joel and everyone at AGC to bring THEY FOUND US to life. The otherworldly horror and breathless suspense at the center of Jeremy’s script is merely the backdrop for an all too relatable and emotional story of a father and teenage daughter grappling with their differences and working through their estrangement.”
No release date has been announced, but the movie is scheduled to begin shooting later this year in Australia.