"I Know What You Did Last Summer" director Jim Gillespie is hoping to establish another franchise. He's signed on to direct "Take Down," a thriller in the vein of "Hunger Games."
The original script from "Ransom" writer Alexander Ignon takes place at a boarding school of sorts for rebellious children of billionaires. When the "tough-love" school is taken hostage by sophisticated group of criminals, the teenagers take matters into their own hands.
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Sound like a "Hunger Games"-sized hit? Producers Ed Elbert and Sarah Ryan Black think so.
“'Take Down' centers on a group of teenagers who take matters into their own hands after their school is sieged — a thrilling story that both Alexander and Jim have successfully mastered,” frequent producing partners Elbert and Black said in a statement. “This is a very commercial film in the vein of 'The Hunger Games,' for which audiences have demonstrated a very strong appetite.”
Such a strong appetite, in fact, that Ignon is already working on a sequel for the film which shoots in the United Kingdom this fall. Casting will commence shortly, with the intention of finding young actors from the United States, Asia, South America and the Middle East.
Radiant Films International is handling foreign sales of the project, while Stefan Brunner, Jamie Brown, Alex Brow and Alex Tate will produce with Elbert and Black.
"I Know What You Did Last Summer," Gillespie's most successful film, grossed $125 million around the world when released in 1997 and spawned two sequels. "Venom," a 2005 horror movie written by Kevin Williamson ("Scream"), was Gillespie's last theatrical release and only grossed $881,000.