Hot off his summer horror hitCrawl, genre maestroAlexandre Ajahas signed on to direct an untitled haunted house movie forSteven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners, and the kicker is, it will be an interactive horror film featuring a branched narrative – i.e. a choose-your-own-adventure-style horror movie.
The film will be written byJeff Howard(TheHaunting of Hill House),Nick Simon(The Girl in the Photographs), and Aja, based on an idea by Howard andMike Flanagan(Doctor Sleep).
To develop the project, Amblin Partners is working with Kino Industries’ CtrlMovie technology, which empowers filmmakers to create branched narrative, interactive feature films that allow audiences to influence the storyline. Using an app on their cell phones, audience members will be able to vote in the theater to decide what characters will do at pivotal points in the narrative, meaning that Aja’s film will have a different plot, ending and even running time depending on the audience’s choices.
Kino Industries’Chady Eli MattarandScott C. Silverwill serve as producers, while Aja will executive produce with his longtime partnerGreg Levasseur(Piranha 3D).Tobias Webber, who co-founded Kino Industries and invented the CtrlMovie technology, will also serve as an executive producer on the project, which Amblin executivesJeb BrodyandJohn Buderwitzwill oversee on behalf of the studio.
Aja’sCrawlhas grossed nearly $60 million worldwide on a sensible $13.5 million budget, and it rates 84% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Aja’s campyPiranha 3Dalso scored with critics, andHigh Tensionremains a genre standout. The French filmmaker also directedMirrorsand the 2006 remake ofThe Hills Have Eyes, both of which were modest genre hits.
Howard co-wroteOculus,Ouija: Origin of Evil,Before I WakeandGerald’s Gamewith Flanagan, with whom he also worked onThe Haunting of Hill Houseand the upcoming Netflix seriesMidnight Mass, while Simon co-wrote and directedThe Girl in the Photographsin addition to directing the Syfy movieTruth or Dareand co-writing the 2013Bryan CranstonthrillerCold Comes the Night. Flanagan has theStephen KingadaptationDoctor Sleephitting theaters this November, and he’s currently prepping theHill Housefollow-upThe Haunting of Bly Manor.
Aja is represented by WME, managerSarah Bottfeldat Industry Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson, while Howard and Simon are managed byKailey Marshat Brillstein Entertainment Partners. Flanagan is repped by WME and managerStuart Manashilat Novo, and VanderKloot Law. Kino Industries, Mattar and Silver are repped by WME and Kleinberg Lange Cuddy & Carlo.
