Eli Roth has made a name for himself in genre film over the years. He proved his deft touch at unsettling horror with Cabin Fever back in 2002. Then came Hostel and Hostel: Part II, proving he had an equally deft touch at gory torture porn. Now, The Playlist reveals that his next project might be a sci-fi film called Endangered Species.
Apparently Roth’s been brooding over the sci-fi pic for some time. It’s an apocalyptic genre film in the vein of Cloverfield and Transformers, but different than both. In 2009 Roth spoke about the sci-fi project, saying that the source of destruction rained down on the earth, but “is not aliens or robots or a virus—it’s a little more grounded. But when people hear it they are going to be like ‘That is going to be insane!'”
Roth said recently that the film will have an estimated budget of $40-$60 million. Not too bad considering what he did with a fraction of that on Cabin Fever. Then again, sci-fi pics generally need a generous budget, especially if there is going to be CGI elements or elaborate sets/creature effects.
Roth spoke about Endangered Species last year and commented on the limited budget. He said:
“It’s a tricky film; it’s going to be an expensive movie, so any changes I want to make, I want to make them on the page as opposed to shooting and then re-shooting or fixing them in editing. It’s not like I can just shoot and shoot and figure it out later; this thing has to be mapped out very, very carefully.”
I’m excited about the prospect of Roth tackling a sci-fi film. Though apocalyptic sci-fi pics aren’t too rare, Roth’s Cabin Fever has me thinking he can do a lot in the way of mood and texture without a huge budget. And since he’s been sitting on this idea for so long, I have a feeling he’s fleshed out the story and will bring something fresh and edgy to the table.
