Roland Emmerich’s found footage alien invasion flick The Zone falls to pieces?

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Remember two weeks ago when Roland Emmerich was set to enter THE ZONE, a “found footage” alien-invasion flick that he was gonna make for no more than $5 million. Yeah, well all that’s for naught!

THE ZONE, which had been in rehearsals before being shut down, was going to be released by Columbia this coming April. No real plot details were disseminated, but it was said to have an improv feel with a bunch of unknown actors.

According to Heat Vision, no specific reason can be attributed to THE ZONE’S production halt. Here’s the quote they were able to mine from Emmerich’s squad:

“This is not a project (Emmerich) is pursuing at this time.”

Uh, alright.

While rumors persist, my guess is Emmerich was in way over his head with trying to make an affective/effective monster-movie for less than $5 million. Sure, starving artists can give it a go, a la Gareth Edwards (MONSTERS) and to a lesser extent the Bros. Strause (SKYLINE), but a dude who routinely shells out 9-figures per production? No way in hell.

More plausible reasons claim the “found footage” convention has been played out, and that another such alien invasion flick is slated to open mere weeks before THE ZONE, potentially scaring away interest.

Honestly though, what the hell do you think went down?