Giant Freakin Robot

I’m not going to get into an Apollo 18 rant here, but before its release, I would have considered “found footage suspense in space” to be a failsafe genre as far as garnering my interest is concerned. I’m one of “those guys.” But then the film came out, not with a bang, but with several bangs, of my head against the wall behind me. My faith has not died completely, however. Every time I read something about The Europa Report, which is never all that much thanks to production secrecy, I get excited all over again.

Via press release, the Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnet Releasing, a genre-based sub-company of Magnolia Pictures, announced they’ve acquired the U.S. rights to Europa Report, and they plan on releasing it later this year on an undetermined date.

The film, financied by Wayfare Entertainment and China’s Sil Metropole, is the English language directorial debut from Sebastián Cordero, and a return to sci-fi from District 9 breakout star Sharlto Copley. Cordero is working with longtime collaborators Eugenio Caballero, the Academy Award-winning Production Designer for Pan’s Labyrinth, and Director of Photography Enrique Chediak (127 Hours). Another major draw for this crew is the music, as performed by Bear McCreary, responsible for the powerful music on The Walking Dead and Battlestar Galactica.

The Europa Report, the new film from director Sebastián Cordero, has been under wraps since last February when the first images of the film’s star, Sharlto Copley (District 9), surfaced on the Internet. Ten months later, the teaser trailer for the science fiction film reveals very little, but does hint at the tone, mood, and setting of the found-footage film. Watch the teaser below:

You’d think that people would have learned the lessons of Arthur C. Clarke: stay the hell away from Jupiter and her moons, ’cause weird stuff happens there. Apparently that lesson wasn’t absorbed by the characters at the heart of the upcoming SF film The Europa Report (or simply Europa, depending on which news story you’re reading). We first heard about the flick several months back, when it was described as a “contemporary space adventure” starring District 9‘s Sharlto Copley and to be helmed by Ecuadorian director Sebastian Cordero. While the film likely will not arrive until 2013, the filmmakers have launched a new website that embraces that ever-popular strategy: viral marketing.

The Europa Report is about the first manned mission to Jupiter’s titular moon. The new website poses as the homepage for “Europa Ventures LLC,” the private corporation funding the trip. At the moment the only tidbit provided by the site is a montage of footage ostensibly taken from inside the ship on its way to Europa. We see the crew members doing all the things you’d expect a half dozen people trapped inside a tin can for an extended period to do: exercise, play cards, eat meals, etc. While there are no surprises just yet, there are a number of links on the site that go to a log-in screen, so there will likely be more interesting content posted as the film gets closer to release. In the meantime, take a look at the video and the fairly impressive set design for the ship interior.