It looks like Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, is planning a trip to Mars as they have just picked up the US distribution rights to Ruairi Robinson’s sci-fi thriller THE LAST DAYS ON MARS from Focus Features International. This is a pretty cool sounding little sci-fi horror flick which also marks the first feature film debut of Robinson, an Academy Award-nominated director of several celebrated sci-fi short films and animations. I don't know about you guys but I'd watch the shit out of Liev Schreiber fighting a re-animated space corpse.
On the last day of the first manned mission to Mars, a crew member of Tantalus Base believes he has made an astounding discovery – fossilized evidence of bacterial life. Unwilling to let the relief crew claim all the glory, he disobeys orders to pack up and goes out on an unauthorized expedition to collect further samples. But a routine excavation turns to disaster when the porous ground collapses, and he falls into a deep crevice and near certain death. His devastated colleagues attempt to recover his body. However, when another vanishes they start to suspect that the life-form they have discovered is not yet dead. As the group begins to fall apart it seems their only hope is the imminent arrival of the relief ship Aurora.
The film stars Liev Schreiber, Elias Koteas, Romola Garai, Olivia Williams and Tom Cullen. Magnet is eyeing a release through its Ultra VOD program later this year.