Joel Kinnaman To Star In Neill Blomkamp’s Alien Abduction Thriller ‘They Found Us’ For AGC Studios, Temple Hill

Matt Grobar
·4 min read
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Joel Kinnaman (For All Mankind) is attached to star in They Found Us, an alien abduction thriller to be directed for AGC Studios and Temple Hill by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9), which will head into production in Australia later this year.

The film to be fully financed by Stuart Ford’s fast-growing independent content studio, AGC Studios, is based on an original screenplay by Jeremy Slater, whose credits include Moon Knight, Fantastic Four, The Exorcist, The Lazarus Effect and The Umbrella Academy. It will follow a father (Kinnaman) and his daughter Kaylee as they undertake a camping trip in the Utah wilderness to heal their broken relationship. After being attacked by a hostile extraterrestrial lifeform, their lives — not just their relationship — wind up at stake, as they fight with a humanoid beast to stop their abduction to an unknown and terrifying alien world.

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Wyck Godfrey and Marty Bowen will produce the film for Temple Hill Entertainment (Smile, Twilight franchise), with Ford on board to exec produce alongside Temple Hill’s John Fischer. AGC International will launch sales in Cannes, with UTA Independent Film Group co-repping U.S. rights.

“We’re delighted to extend our relationship with Neill, who is a master of the sci-fi and horror genres,” said Ford in a statement. “Jeremy Slater’s taut terrifying screenplay is a perfect match for Neill’s visual talents and the proven audience-pleasing instincts of our partners at Temple Hill.”

Added Godfrey, “We’re so excited to be working with Neill and Joel and everyone at AGC to bring THEY FOUND US to life. The otherworldly horror and breathless suspense at the center of Jeremy’s script is merely the backdrop for an all too relatable and emotional story of a father and teenage daughter grappling with their differences and working through their estrangement.”

Kinnaman currently stars in Apple TV+’s sci-fi drama For All Mankind, having previously appeared on such series as House of Cards, Altered Carbon and The Killing. He just wrapped production on AGC’s action thriller The Silent Hour from director Brad Anderson and is perhaps best known on the film side for roles in titles like The Suicide Squad, The Informer and The Secrets We Keep, to name a few. Also coming up for him are John Woo’s actioner Silent Night and the horror thriller Sympathy for the Devil in which he stars opposite Nicolas Cage.

A South African writer, director and producer best known for his Oscar-nominated sci-fi drama District 9, in which aliens were also front and center, Blomkamp’s other best known feature efforts are the police droid-centered Chappie and the Matt Damon-led Elysium. He most recently helmed Sony’s film Gran Turismo, based on the popular racing video game series, which is slated for release in theaters on August 11th.

Notable past film credits of Godfrey and Bowen’s storied production company Temple Hill, founded in 2006, include The Twilight Saga and The Maze Runner trilogy, as well as The Fault in Our Stars, Fatherhood, The Hate U Give, Love, Simon, First Man and the recent horror hit, Smile, for Paramount. Temple Hill’s TV credits include ABC’s Revenge, FX’s Dave, which is currently airing its third season, and the Stephen King adaptations The Outsider and Mr. Mercedes for HBO and Audience Network, respectively.

Ford’s company AGC Studios, launched in 2018, recently released Christopher Smith’s supernatural thriller Consecration, starring Jena Malone and Danny Huston, with IFC Midnight. It’s currently in post on Pierre Morel’s action comedy Freelance staring John Cena, Alison Brie and Juan Pablo Raba; Christian Ditter’s family comedy The Present starring Isla Fisher and Greg Kinnear; Numa Perrier’s The Perfect Find, starring Gabrielle Union and Gina Torres, for Netflix; Chris Pine’s directorial debut Poolman, in which he stars opposite Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh and DeWanda Wise; Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut The Dating Game, in which she stars with Daniel Zovato; and Richard Linklater’s Hitman starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona.

AGC will enter production on May 11th on the crime thriller The Order, starring Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult, which Justin Kurzel will direct from a script by Zach Baylin. Currently in pre-production is writer-director Rowan Athale’s sports drama Giant, based on the true story of British-Yemeni pugilist Prince Naseem “Naz” Hamed, which will star Paddy Considine and Mena Massoud.

Blomkamp is repped by CAA and Gendler & Kelly; Slater by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, UTA and McKuin Frankel Whitehead; and Kinnaman by WME and Magnolia Entertainment. AGC’s SVP of Legal & Business Affairs Anant Tamirisa negotiated the deal on behalf of AGC, with Hansen, Jacobson, Teller on behalf of Temple Hill.

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