Rufus Sewell May Star In Zany Space Horror Film Animus
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Space and horror last came together to make Liev Shreiber’s life a living hell with the disappointingly derivative The Last Days on Mars. Thankfully, we won’t have to wait too long for another entry in the sub-genre, as the bonkers-sounding thriller Animus will soon take flight through the cosmos, and with any luck it will have Dark City‘s Rufus Sewell along for the ride. Even if he doesn’t want to take part, I think they should just strap him to the ship anyway, as a punishment for starring in 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
Animus will serve as the feature debut for multi-talented actor/writer/director Tom Konkle, perhaps best known for The Archaeology of Comedy and the hit science-spoofing web series Invention with Brian Forbes, both of which he co-created with David Beeler. He was also a script consultant on the decent-enough horror comedy The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu. In fact, most of the projects that Konkle has been a part of are comedies, so I have to wonder if this film is going to be a straight thriller or if it will have a thread of black humor running throughout. I’m certainly hoping for the latter, as a couple of intentional laughs can save a film that might otherwise be a wash.
The plot follows a group of scientists returning to Earth after investigating some distant moons. Their ship is hit by micrometeorites, which of course end up somehow infecting one of the crew, and he almost immediately turns into a maniac, murdering the men and getting the women pregnant. It’s up to the small group of survivors to figure out how to kill the man and his inner beast before they reach Earth and destroy its population. We sure don’t need a bunch of woman-impregnating men down here. It doesn’t sound nearly as terrifying as Event Horizon, but there is something inherently creepy about a man/monster having sex with different women without anyone being able to stop him.
There’s no telling whether Sewell will end up taking the part or not, but he doesn’t appear to be filming anything at the moment, having recently wrapped production on Brett Ratner’s upcoming summer tentpole Hercules. He had a busy 2013, starring in Steven Brown’s drama The Sea, George Isaac’s crime thriller All Things to All Men, and Richie Mehta’s sci-fi mystery I’ll Follow You Down with Gillian Anderson. He’s also leading Christian E. Christiansen’s religious cult thriller Where the Devil Hides.
We will keep you posted as to the goings-on with Animus, but in the meantime sit back and enjoy the awesomeness of one of the latest episodes of Invention with Brian Forbes.
