Not only does the deal give Paramount distribution rights, but also co-financing rights alongside Incentive Filmed Entertainment and the Aramid Entertainment Fund on the flick and any sequels. Good thing for Peli too, as AREA 51’s budget has soared past P.A.’s budget of $15K with a reported $5M.
As a reminder, AREA 51 goes a little something like this: three curious teens are lead to the notorious Area 51 portion of Nellis Air Force Base in the Nevada desert. Starring a cast of unknowns armed with hand held video cameras, the film actually wrapped filming about 3 weeks ago and is cruising along strong in post-production.
Another interesting factor of this Paramount deal is that it appears to include a P.A. sequel (through Paramount as well), which will begin sometime after AREA 51 is finished. However, no other details as to what that’s all about have been released.
While none of this surprising to anyone (except for maybe AREA 51 having already completed production!), apparently Paramount wasn’t the only interested studio wanting AREA 51, so this whole deal could have gone in a totally different direction. I dug P.A. for what it was, and I’m super stoked to check out AREA 51 if for no other reason to see if Peli is more than just a one hit wonder, or the next big thing in horror.
No specific release date has been set, but AREA 51 is expected to hit theaters sometime in 2010 (I smell another October release).