Sutherland to join the cast?
Director Sxv’Leithan Essex and producer Lee Cleary (The A-Team) have granted Shock Till You Drop the first images from Growl, anticipated to hit theaters in 2011.
“It’s Fight Club versus werewolves,” director Sxv’Leithan (pronounced “skuh-lee-than,” for those scratchin’ their heads over his name) tells us. “Two of my favorite things thrown in the ring to see what will come out alive. But what I love most about it is its completely character driven. I started writing and wanting to direct after seeing Aliens in theaters and how James Cameron made you care about the characters who would eventually be in peril. I love the characters in Growl like they are my family and it sucks to have to kill some of them off. But they do die some glorious deaths. I’m a total horror freak and I write with horror junkies like me in mind, creating the type of film we really want to see on the big screen.”
Essex has begun shooting in Los Angeles and roped in Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) to star along with Josh Kelly (Circle of Eight), Paul Bean, Jennifer Lee Wiggins (Bled) and Mark Sherman. Kiefer Sutherland is in talks to join the production once he is wrapped on Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia.
In Growl, a traveling underground fight club called ‘The Brawlers’ arrive at a derelict ghost town tucked away in the Colorado Rockies. They meet the town’s only residents, the Maxilla family, who want to buy on to the fight card. But the Maxilla family’s true intentions for the Brawler crew is soon revealed in teeth and claws. Some will be hunted, some will be feed, and some will become part of the family whether they like it or not.
“We have the trilogy outlined, a prequel graphic novel and a videogame that sets up the events and characters in Growl 2,” Essex explains. “I’m a huge comic book fan as well and love when ancillary properties directly link into the films. There will be lots of character background and connective tissue in the graphic novel and videogame and it won’t be just a moneymaking tool. This is for horror junkies like Lee and I. More meat to chew on while you wait for the next installment. Lee and I are going to be in the world of Growl for a long while and we couldn’t be happier about it.”
Big plans…and the man has only begun shooting.
Enjoy the following stills, along with a teaser poster, in hi-res right here!
