LOCARNO — Spain’s Vertigo Films has boarded “All the World Drops Dead,” committing to co-produce the next scarefest from Austrian Kevin Kopacka, director of 2021’s noteworthy “Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes.”
Set up at Germany’s Manderley Films, which oversaw VFX on “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “All the World Drops Dead” has been brought to market at Locarno’s Match Me! Forum by producer and co-writer Lili Villlányi.
Also produced by Manderley Films’ founder Rebekka Garrido, “All the World Drops Dead” ranks as one of the biggest genre plays on offer at this year’s Swiss festival –not an idle boast as distributors worldwide turn to genre, as well as family animation, as a reaction to plunging cinema theater audiences for arthouse cinema through and after the pandemic.
Another ambitious horror mystery, “All the World Drops Dead” turns on nihilistic backpacker Fonda (23) who is hitchhiking towards a canyon with the intention of leaping off it, thus ending her own life.
On her journey she encounters the charismatic and eccentric Beverly (66), an off-the-books park ranger who agrees to take her closer toher destination.But things take a dark turn, the synopsis runs, as Beverly forces Fonda into a mysterious new world, where she meets the troubled and cunningTara (25) who helps her navigate through her new surroundings.
“Together they hatch a plan to take revenge on Beverly while being hunted by a much more sinister presence that is threateningto consume them.”
Written by Kopacka and Villányi, “All the World Drops Dead” is currently in development and set to initiate financing from September, aiming to go into production first half 2025. It received script development funding from the German Ministry of Culture and Media (BKM).
“We are living in uncertain times, where the threat of global warming, AI, inflation and war make it hard to predict what challenges we might face in the upcoming years,” Kopacka toldPvNew. “Our story deals with this new fear that isslowly materializing in many of us. The fear of the future. Our Gen-Z protagonist Fonda is plagued by a bleak and nihilistic outlook and would rather end her own life than to face this uncertainty,” he added.
“Ultimatelyrealizing that leaving life does not offer an escape, she has no choice but to confront her worst fear – uncertainty.”
Kopacka’s consecration as a genre talent to track, sumptuous gothic horror tale “Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes” was released on Shudder on Jan. 9 and has scored a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, The Guardian announcing that it has “potential of becoming a cult favourite.”
With “All the World Drops Dead” I want to make a life-affirming film that tells an entertaining and imaginative story with multi-faceted and flawed characters – while still managing to scare its audience senseless,” Kopacka toldPvNew.
“We are striving to create interesting and unique (genre) films with meaningful messages, aiming is to reach bigger audiences in the future,” said Kopcaka and Villányi.
“Our business model is still quite classic.We start with festivals and then aim for at least a limited theatrical release. Subsequently, besides VOD releases we aim for a strong physical release, as we ourselves are big supporters of the physical medium,” they added.
