Italian
Julius Avery, the director of “Samaritan,” “Overlord” and “The Pope’s Exorcist,” has come on board to direct the new alien abduction thriller “They Found Us.” The film hails from “Smile” producers Temple Hill Entertainment and Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios, which is financing the project.
AGC Intl. will handle international sales and co-rep U.S. rights with UTA Independent Film Group. Casting is underway on the movie, which will shoot in Australia in the first half of 2025.
“They Found Us” follows a father and daughter who undertake a camping trip in the Utah wilderness to heal their broken relationship. Attacked by a hostile extraterrestrial life form, their lives, not just their relationship, are at stake as they fight with a humanoid beast to stop their abduction to an unknown and terrifying alien world.
The film is based on an original screenplay by Jeremy Slater (“Moon Knight,” “Fantastic Four”), and will be produced by Godfrey and Marty Bowen for Temple Hill. Ford is on board as an executive producer along with Temple Hill’s John Fischer.
Popular on Variety Avery is an Australian filmmaker known for genre-bending action and horror films. His debut feature, “Son of a Gun,” starred Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites. He gained early recognition with his short film “Jerrycan,” which won awards at Cannes, Sundance and Berlin. Avery’s second film, “Overlord” (2018), a WWII horror film produced by J.J. Abrams, starred Jovan Adepo and Wyatt Russell. It was followed by the Sylvester Stallone feature “Samaritan” and horror movie “The Pope’s Exorcist” starring Russell Crowe.
Avery is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment. Slater is represented by UTA, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and McKuin Frankel Whitehead. AGC’s exec VP of legal and business affairs Anant Tamirisa negotiated the deal on behalf of AGC and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs and Fox negotiated on behalf of Temple Hill.
