Details emerge on Barry Levinson’s sci-fi thriller The Bay, formerly known as Isopod

A few weeks ago, there was a brief and not very detailed report that filmmaker Barry Levinson (MAN OF THE YEAR, RAIN MAN) was planning on directing an indie sci-fi thriller then called ISOPOD. But today, Screen Daily revealed new information…

Firstly, the film is now titled THE BAY. Secondly, the project actually sounds a bit more like a sort of ecological horror thriller, focusing on a viral outbreak taking place on the Eastern Seaboard. Here’s the quote from Screen Daily:

“THE BAY centres on the aftermath of a viral outbreak on the Eastern Seaboard. The story is told via a series of recordings on camera phones, 911 calls and other scraps of video as the town of Claridge, Maryland, is engulfed by chaos.”

That certainly sounds a bit like CLOVERFIELD and DISTRICT 9 (in terms of camera visuals) mixed with the ideas behind Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming CONTAGION and perhaps even Joon-ho Bong’s THE HOST. And I can’t really discount the previous title, ISOPOD, as it might be a clue as to the origin or cause of the viral outbreak.

The film is also being brought to us by the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY crew of Oren Peli, Jason Blum, Steven Schneider, and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones – all aboard as producers – which further jibes with the whole low quality visual approach they’re taking here.

Filming on THE BAY takes place this month in the Carolinas.