Hyde Park Entertainment nabs thriller spec “Killer” written by Kenny Golde. This post from Peter Sciretta at slashfilm.com:
Hyde Park Entertainment and Parkes/MacDonald Productions have acquired Kenny Golde’s spec screenplay Killer. The contained thriller was originally written with the intent to produce the film on a low budget. I heard that the screenplay was originally making the rounds at Paramount’s new low-budget film division and Fox Searchlight, but quickly made its way up to the bigger studios.
The story is told through the point of view of a single video camera held by a police officer videotaping a murder investigation. While investigating the crime scene, the police discover a video left by the killer, made with hidden cameras planted throughout the house they are investigating.
Note that phrase: “contained thriller.” With the ginormous success of Paranormal Activity, the recent sale at Sundance of “Buried”, a man-stuck-in-a-buried-coffin thriller, and now “Killer,” perhaps we’re seeing the emergence of new trend.
The scenario rather unpleasant, and there have been complaints that the killer’s backstory is very unoriginal, the POV framing device is very gimmicky, and at times, implausible. It sounds like they might need to hire someone to give the script a good polish before going in front of the camera.
One interesting side note per Variety (subscription required):
Golde has directed 2003′s “The Job” and “Uncross the Stars,” starring Barbara Hershey and Ron Perlman. He also penned “The Do It Yourself Bailout,” published last year, describing how he reduced $212,000 in credit card debt to only $30,000 in six months by negotiating directly with credit card companies.
Golde is repped by APA and Infinity Management, although with that negotiating skill-set noted above, one wonders why he even bothers.
UPDATE: In comments James notes:
Chris Sparling – writer of “Buried” recently sold “ATM”, the story of three people trapped in an ATM vestibule by a faceless killer.
We covered that spec script sale here.
What other movie examples can you think of that fit into this sub-genre: “contained thriller.” Obviously Rear Window and Saw, albeit the latter more of a horror movie. I’m curious what GITS readers can come up with because I think this subject is worth a post and discussion – because clearly Hwood is paying attention to this narrative approach. So please post movie examples in comments you can think of in the ‘contained thriller’ sub-genre.
UPDATE #2: MTV Movies blog covers the project here.
Chris Sparling – writer of "Buried" recently sold "ATM", the story of three people trapped in an ATM vestibule by a faceless killer.
Yet another example of why it's a good bet to invest your time in developing a strong concept for a contained thriller.
There was P2 – in a parking garage.
There was Mirrors – mainly in a hospital (more horror)
Quarantine – apartment building
Any "haunted house" stuff.
Here are some nearly contained thrillers:
"Wait Until Dark" (1967) – mainly in a blind woman's apartment
"Vacancy" (2002) – mainly in a motel room