‘Sister Darkness’ Big-Budget Gothic Horror From Alex Proyas Leads Partnership With 108 Media (EXCLUSIVE)
Director Alex Proyas (“The Crow,” “I, Robot”) has teamed up with U.K.-based 108 Media to launch a slate of collaborations, kicking off with $35 million feature film project “Sister Darkness.”
The 1930s, U.K.-set story follows the newly wed, but unhappy, Alice who stumbles across her doppelganger Isla. Her existence is a mystery seeped in a tale of bloody retribution against her oppressors, a hellish supernatural nightscape and an uprising against the deceitful aristocracy.
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From a script by Proyas, the film will be shot in Australia from late-2022 into mid-2023, using a fully virtual production process specially developed and refined by Proyas’ VFX studio Heretic Foundation. No cast attachments have been announced yet.
The multi-faceted deal was struck and negotiated by 108 Media’s CEO Abhi Rastogi and president of production Justin Deimen, supported by Rod Smith, director, acquisitions, and Steven Rosser (legal counsel) with Heretic Foundation’s CEO & creative director Proyas, GM and executive producer Andrew Robinson, studio producer Erasmo (Raz) Raimundo and Craig Emmanuel of Paul Hastings law firm in Los Angeles.
Proyas, his IP development company Mystery Clock Cinema and Heretic have been developing new approaches to filmmaking in the virtual production space since 2020. They aim to change filmmaking by lowering costs without sacrificing creative intent. They believe that virtual production, which uses huge LED backdrops, give creators more power and flexibility and see “Sister Darkness” as a showcase for the technology’s capabilities.
“ ‘Sister Darkness’ will be a milestone in the use of virtual production at this scale and Heretic’s talented team will allow us to establish production values at much higher levels in this budget range than ever before thought achievable. This is the future of filmmaking,” said Proyas.
He describes the look and feel of “Sister Darkness” being inspired by British horror movies of the 1960s and 1970s, with deep reverence to legendary films such as “The Innocents” and “The Legend of Hell House.” He also calls it, “a macabre female-driven fever dream of revenge and gothic terror with deep franchise potential.”
“Working with Alex and what he has built with Heretic aligns with 108’s goal to be able to service bold creative vision from concept to final mile distribution as our content financing divisions has scaled up tremendously this year with new partners and continuing strategic expansions,” said Rastogi.
The 108 Media studio is a global IP and media asset investment firm in the telecoms-media-technology space, that aims to redefine and revolutionize the way content is created, curated and consumed. It has a focus on emerging markets and maintains offices in Singapore, Manila and Kuala Lumpur in addition to its London headquarters and other offices in Toronto, Los Angeles and Tokyo.
Last week, 108 Media announced the majority acquisition of APAC production company Revolution Media (producer of “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency” and “The Ghost Bride” for Netflix) and its IP slate.
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