Neill Blomkamp Movie ‘They Found Us’ Shuts Down Pre-Production In Saudi Arabia

Andreas Wiseman
·3 min read
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EXCLUSIVE: Neill Blomkamp’s alien abduction thriller They Found Us has shut down pre-production in Saudi Arabia as it reworks its finance structure, we have learned.

Suicide Squad and For All Mankind star Joel Kinnaman is attached to star in the AGC Studios-backed movie, which was due to get underway in coming weeks. Cast had yet to travel to set.

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A growing number of sizeable English-language movies are choosing to film in Saudi Arabia. Among big productions to recently shoot in the territory have been AGC’s Anthony Mackie pic Desert Warrior — currently in post-production — and Gerard Butler movie Kandahar. They Found Us is among a handful of U.S. productions being made in collaboration with Saudi production hub Neom.

The move to restructure the finance plan behind the independent movie comes just as tension in the region is growing due to the Israel-Gaza crisis.

Neom is hundreds of miles from Gaza, but the Israel-Hamas conflict could potentially lead to insurance issues and make travel harder in the region, one indie finance source told us. Some productions filming in Saudi Arabia bring crew from nearby Egypt and Jordan, while international cast and crew travel from the U.S. and beyond.

That said, multiple local productions are currently filming unhindered in Saudi Arabia and we understand other international productions are on course to begin filming in the country in coming months. Studio sources on the ground told us they hadn’t heard of any changes to production schedules due to the conflict.

AGC told us today: “We’ve taken the reluctant decision with our valued partners at Neom to pause pre-production on the film while we further explore a cross border legal and funding structure that makes all stakeholders comfortable. In deciding when to resume pre-production we’ll obviously assess what impact macro events in the region may have on obtaining production insurances and travel plans. Our friends at Neom and Yellow Camel have been nothing but collaborative and reliable partners at every stage of the journey thus far and we look forward to returning to prep on the film with them at the earliest sensible opportunity.”

There is currently no restart date but the expectation is that the film will get underway in coming months. U.S. outfit Media Guarantors is the bond company.

They Found Us is being financed by AGC and 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.

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

Oscar-nominated South African writer, director and producer Blomkamp is best known for sci-fi drama District 9 (in which aliens were also front and center), the police droid-centered Chappie and the Matt Damon-led Elysium. He most recently helmed Sony’s film Gran Turismo.

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