Joseph Kahn primarily works as a music video director, having collaborated with the likes of Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, Rob Zombie, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, U2, Aerosmith, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Maroon 5, Shakira, and many more – but he has also made a few feature films over the years. He made his feature debut with the 2004 action comedy Torque, and has followed that up with the comedy Bodied and the horror film Detention – which we’ve covered for both Awfully Good and Best Horror Movie You Never Saw. Now, Variety reports that Kahn is making a creature feature called Ick, and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Mena Suvari (American Beauty) have signed on to star in the film.
Ick is coming our way from Interstellar Entertainment and producer Steven Schneider. The film aims to “evoke the timeless creature features of the 1980s with an ambitious arsenal of scares and comedy.” Routh is taking on the role of Hank, a high school science teacher who still pines for his childhood sweetheart, played by Suvari. While discovering he may have a teenage daughter, Hank must grapple with a terrifying alien anomaly (the titular “Ick”) invading their small town.
The teenager who might be Hank’s daughter is being played by Malina Weissman of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events.
Kahn, who also wrote the screenplay with Sam Laskey and Dan Koontz, provided the following statement: “Ick is a movie that evokes primal fears about the world today, and best of all, it introduces a unique mysterious monster. I am thrilled that Interstellar has aligned to produce this modern creature feature that is challenging and escapist fun.“
Interstellar’s Udaya Sharma added, “Embedded within Ick are universal themes of bravery, self-sacrifice and the eternal human quest to face the unknown. Our goal is to not just captivate our audience but to also invoke deep introspection about confronting the unimaginable, while also being incredible pop entertainment for all ages.“
The Variety article notes that the creature effects in Ick will be brought to the screen through a combination of old school prosthetics and state of the art visual effects.
How does Ick sound to you? Are you interested in a Joseph Kahn / Brandon Routh / Mena Suvari / Malina Weissman creature feature? Let us know by leaving a comment below.