Oren Peli was once a normal guy with a normal job. One day the dude got creative with some lights and sounds and the next thing he knows, he’s waking up next to Tod Williams’ wife some random chick with a pocket full of gold. How the hell does this happen? However it happened, Peli’s on a one way track to movie fame and if you haven’t noticed yet the guy’s racking up quite a load of POV projects (THE RIVER, AREA 51). I doubt he’ll ever do a traditional feature.
Luckily there’s Variety here to pass the word on Peli’s upcoming project which is exactly just that: a traditional feature film. Peli’s stepping out from the umbrella that is PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and into the fantastic world of cinema. No more $11,000 budgets my friend. You’re a big shot so give us good sh*t. Peli will follow up with THE RIVER and AREA 51 (whenever that flick comes up) with ELIZA GRAVES. The project is loosely basd on Edgar Allan Poe’s short story.
Want to know the skinny? The project centers on a Harvard Medical School graduate who takes a job at an insane asylum, unaware of the fact that it has been taken over by its occupants. Joe Gangemi penned the screenplay. Good stuff, no?
On top of that piece of news, Mel Gibson has also been reported to join Peli as acting producer. Gibson will be involved with early development of the project. The film is actually in high demand among the execs at many studios. Jodie Foster was looking to direct, while Ian McKellan and Natalie Portman had been mentioned in connection with starring roles. Somehow somebody up there found something in that guy (above) that was worthy of tackling the project. Or maybe a rumor will pop up regarding another executive’s wife sleeping around with Peli. That’s Hollywood for ya.
Natalie Portman