Warner Bros Buys Apocalyptic Spec ‘The End’
EXCLUSIVE: The spec market has been as dead as disco lately, but Warner Bros just closed the second deal of the night. The studio has acquired The End, a science fiction/drama spec script written by Aron Eli Coleite. The film focuses on three completely different storylines that are interconnected by the fact that the players in each one are trying to reconcile the fact that the world is going to end. There is a veteran broadcaster in London, a 16-year old girl and her boyfriend in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and a devoted family man in Shanghai. They each try to make peace with their lives before an interstellar event ends the world in just six hours. No producer yet but Jesse Ehrman and Andrew Fischel brought it in for Warner Bros. CAA repped the writer. This happened just after Universal acquired Grim Night.
I hate to be one of those “x sounds like y” people because execution is everything, but doesn’t this sound EXACTLY like that Canadian film “Last Night”? Right down to the six hour timeframe? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156729/
First thing I thought of too! I should try selling my spec about that kid who finds a friendly alien with a glowing finger in his backyard!
Having seen LAST NIGHT, I’d say it does indeed sound exactly the same.
I loved the radio station in LAST NIGHT that tries to play the top 500 songs of all time before doomsday hits.
I was also thinking SOUTHLAND TALES.
@ The Rock: You mean there was a plot in Southland Tales?
Yes, it does. First thing that came to mind was the newly-found international flavor that these stories are taking on. To continue with your “x meets y” thought, it’s Hereafter meets Last Night. Or Babel meets Melancholia.
Spec market is getting hot again. Next couple weeks are gonna prove that. Now is the time, and there have been some exciting scripts beginning to circulate. Comedy will be big and big studios are gearing up for purchasing. Specs are back baby.
heard about another spec that started slipping out this eve with a kinda trailer… sorta — http://vimeo.com/31104387
Fingers crossed.
People DO go to the movies to forget their problems sometimes…yet another end-of-the-world saga isn’t what a lot of people are going to have in mind for “movie night,” especially considering all the problems we have going on out there.
Sounds awesome Aron! I’ll be there opening night.
just read a great spec that’s going out to producers tonight… can’t wait to see who snatches this one.
Great we’re already remaking “melancholia” on a bigger scale? Oh wait, I bet it’s about a meteor like in “Deep Impact” with Aliens riding on it towards Earth’s doom. Or maybe they are the ones who sent it in the 1st place? Lot of thought went into this spec!
I bet Warner will try to get Michael Bay for this since they didn’t get him for “Twilight Zone” or “The days before.”
Just sayin’…
EASILY the worst writer on the Heroes staff–he also wrote some truly dire x-men comics back in the day (and hasn’t worked in comixs since). I suspect Matt Cherniss made this buy.
Read the article. Jesse Ehrman bought it. And Aron is great. Sorry his comics didn’t live up to your standards.
DEEP IMPACT had a thoughtful script by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin, a firm guiding hand in Mimi Leder and a terrific cast. So… Why are we doing this again?
script might be good, but I’m over this “end of the world” crap. no interest in seeing the world go down. You’ll see it at the box office WB. The world is in shitsville already. I’m not paying to go get completely bummed out.
Mike; do your homework before you post a statement that the spec market is as dead as disco. In fact, this year has been the best market for spec sales since the strike, with the percentage of specs sold out of those that have gone out currently over 25% based on several sources.
Agreed. As of Oct. 21 and the sale of “The Mountain” by Helen Childress, 82 specs had sold this year, 78% up from last year.
A SEVENTY-EIGHT PERCENT increase.
Numbers courtesy of Scott Myers and the Blacklist Blog, Go Into the Story.
@ Rhonda,
Maybe because almost nothing gets to the point where it gets shopped. “The End” looks almost unique in that it really is just a script. Granted, from a writer repped by CAA, but no director, producer, talent, etc.
Package deals with enough attachments to start making the thing tomorrow if you really wanted to are not specs.