uMedia tackle serial killer romp Maelstrom & Universal War One adaptation

May 18th 2012, 6:23am

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

So it looks like the Belgian mini-studio uMedia has been pretty darn busy as of late. According to Screen Daily the studio is not only moving forward with an adaptation of sci-fi graphic novel UNIVERSAL WAR ONE, but they’re also greenlighting a serial killer drama called MAELSTROM! Not too shabby.

UNIVERSAL WAR ONE will be based on the graphic novel series by Denis Barjam, which happens to be one of Europe’s top-selling sci-fi graphic novels. Nice! The live-action feature is looking at a budget of around $40 million and follows a band of soldiers on a mission in space. Simple enough! uMedia CEO Adrian Politowski had the following to say regarding the pick-up:

“The huge success of Universal War One resides in its strong, fast-paced narrative following a Dirty Dozen-esque band of crack soldiers as they embark on a deadly mission into deep space enemy territory. Tent pole titles such as Prometheus and Avatar are proving that sci-fi features are more popular than ever with today’s global audiences.”

UNIVERSAL WAR ONE creator Barjam adds: “For years I refused to accept proposals from those who wanted to make Universal War One. With uMedia, I finally found enthusiasts who understand the key to the success of my comic. UW1 has the potential to be a blockbuster but it retains the true heart of the author. It harbors the ability to be both an intimate psychological narrative and super scale disaster movie simultaneously.”

But that’s not all! uMedia are also moving forward with the serial killer romp MAELSTROM, about a writer who tracks a serial killer. The flick, which is described as SEVEN meets MEMENTO, will be penned by Isabelle Sobelman and Stephane Marchand. Word has it the project will be going out to some “heavyweight” directors, whatever that means.

So there you have it folks! Two intriguing genre flicks coming at us from uMedia. These projects sound like they’ll be worth keeping track of? Spit some bullets below and let us know what you think as we wait for more on either UNIVERSAL WAR ONE or MAELSTROM to come our way.

SEVEN’s Gwyneth Paltrow