Dark Castle on the verge of snatching up Vincenzo Natali’s Splice?

Last Updated on July 26, 2021

Last we heard about SPLICE, the film was in the midst of huge bidding war at Sundance, where it premiered to enthusiastic responses. The Weinstein Co., First Look Studios, Samuel Goldwyn Films and Sony were all in the mix, but according to Deadline.com, Joel Silver’s Dark Castle is now the frontrunner to nab the wacky sci-fi flick.

According to the site, the deal would ensure that SPLICE gets a wide summer release on at least 3,000 screens, with a prints and advertising budget in the $40 million range. That would be a rather sizable push for such a (reportedly) bizarre movie with no big stars. (Adrien Brody is a “name”, but I don’t think he can be considered a “movie star”)

This deal is not confirmed yet, so don’t get too excited. But if it happens, it looks like we’ll have a pretty freaky alternative to all the lifeless summer blockbusters in a few months.

Here’s the synopsis, as a refresher: Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named “Dren”, the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators – only to have that bond turn deadly.

Unfortunately, this is from NO SUCH THING, not SPLICE.