Genre icon Joe Dante ("Gremlins") will direct a segment of the upcoming horror anthology feature "Paris I'll Kill You," along with up-and-coming foreign filmmakers Vincenzo Natali ("Splice"), Xavier Gens ("Hitman"), Paco Plaza ("REC") and Ryuhei Kitamura ("The Midnight Meat Train"), according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Instinctive Film and Reverence are producing the ambitious project, which aims to explore the seedy underbelly of the city of love. The movie will be similar in structure to the 2006 omnibus film "Paris, je t'aime," which earned mostly solid reviews around the world, except for this AICN review from yours truly.
Despite a roster of world-renowned filmmakers, "Paris je t'aime" was a hit-and-miss affair, but that wasn't because of its omnibus structure. As a matter of fact, Natali's vampire-themed segment was one of my favorites, so I'm excited to see that he'll be returning to short film territory. I have fond childhood memories of several horror anthologies including "Creepshow" and "Tales From the Hood," so I'd warmly welcome the return of the format.
British director Christopher Smith ("Creep"), French filmmakers Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo ("A L'Interieur") and German music video director Joern Heitmann will also direct segments of the film, which is being produced by Darryn Welch and Mathieu Robinet.
The producers are reportedly pitching "Paris IKU" as the first of a possible "horror city" franchise, duplicating the strategy employed by "Paris, je t'aime" producer Emmanuel Benbihy, who went on to produce "New York, I Love You," and plans to bring the romantic franchise to Shanghai and Jerusalem.
Chris Ouwinga will exec produce with Oliver Simon, Daniel Baur and Carl Clifton of K5 Film, which plans to shop the project to buyers at the American Film Market next week, as the company recently picked up international sales rights to the picture.
