Caffeinated Clint
If nothing else, David Ellis knows how to make a fun film – “Snakes on a Plane” is the proof in the puddin’ there.
But that film, says the amiable filmmaker, should’ve and could’ve been better.
”I think we relied on the Buzz too much and did not market the movie correctly”, Ellis, who I first met a few years back at San Diego Comic-Con over brewskies and baseball, told me this morning.
It was a lesson learnt, and since then Ellis has made sure a meter of film isn’t rolled until the films are definitely ready to go.
Ellis, who’s as crazy about surfing as he is shooting (movies), has a fairly busy couple of years ahead of him.
First up is another 3D movie for Ellis, who’s last movie, 2009’s “The Final Destination”, also took advantage of the in-your-face gimmick.
“Shark Night is going to be killer and shoots this summer in Shreveport LA”, Ellis says of a project that’s set up over at Incentive.
That film, like “Final Destination”, lends itself perfectly to 3D, says the filmmaker.
“I love the depth of a 3D movie – it’s how we view life, and I also love the interactive experience.”
After “Shark Night”, Ellis is booked to do “War Monkeys”, based on the comic of the same name, a thriller with “Star Wars” actor Hayden Christensen, and something ‘fun’ with Milla Jovovich.
”War Monkeys is a fun script and, I guess you’d say, has a Snakes on a Plane-vibe about it. People haven’t seen Monkeys with guns!”, he says. “I also have a great script called Genesis Code with Hayden Christensen and another titled Bad Luck with Milla Jovovich. And there’s several others.”
“Genesis Code”, written by Kevin Bernhardt, tells of a former national security expert (Christensen) who, while investigating the murder of his only sister and her young son, discovers that a religious sect called The Shadow of the Cross may be involved. With the help of his sister’s friend Ana, they follow the clues to a clinic in the mountains of Italy, where a terrifying secret experiment has been conducted – successfully. The results are so threatening to the foundation of the Church that they will do anything to keep it from being revealed.
The $30 million dollar horror “Bad Luck”, headlined by “Resident Evil” star Jovovich, tells of a group of friends find their lives changed when the superstitions they don’t believe in begin to come true.
Ellis still hopes to make “Humpty Dumpty”, based on the script by Billy Majestic about a half-human, half-alien creature embarks on a murderous rampage after his alien mother is abused by two rednecks in the Deep South, sometime too. But for the moment, it’s on hold.
“Humpty Dumpty is still a work in progress, but one that I would love to do”, says Ellis.
Ellis says he’s having the time of his life at the moment.
“I am blessed to have great projects with great producers and actors”
