Pulsar Content material, XYZ Movies Board Japanese Horror Movie ‘Bloat’ From ‘Looking’ Producer Timur Bekmambetov

Pulsar Content material and XYZ Movies have teamed as much as deal with gross sales on “Bloat,” a horror film starring Ben McKenzie (“Gotham”) and Bojana Novakovic (“Satan”).

The film is about up as a world co-production between Timur Bekmambetov’s banner Bazelevs, whose credit embrace “Needed,” “Unfriended,” “Looking” and “Resurrected,” France’s Pulsar Content material (“The Deep Home”) and Japanese manufacturing firm flag Co., Ltd.

Written and directed by up-and-coming Tokyo-based horror filmmaker Pablo Absento (“Shi”), “Bloat” tells the story of a mom (Novakovic) and two sons who’re vacationing in Japan. The daddy of the household (McKenzie), who’s a army officer, is away stationed in Turkey. Throughout their keep outdoors Tokyo, their youthful son virtually drowns in a lake. Quickly after the accident, the mother and father notice that one thing is fallacious with their boy.

Filming started in New York earlier this 12 months and wrapped up in Tokyo in October. The post-production is about to be accomplished by mid-2023.

Absento’s credit embrace the brief “Shi” which performed at a number of festivals, together with FilmQuest, and was acquired by Crypt TV. Absento additionally directed a number of episodes for “SMA Horror” (“Smartphone Horror”), a brand new present produced by Takashi Shimizu, the creator of the unique horror franchise “The Grudge.”

“Bloat” is the primary movie within the Japanese horror story style that’s produced within the screenlife format pioneered by Bekmambetov – when the complete motion unfolds on the display of the cell gadgets of the characters.

Bekmambetov earlier screenlife B.O. hits embrace “Unfriended” which grossed greater than $65 million on a price range of $1 million, and “Looking” which grossed $75 million. Sony Footage will likely be releasing “Lacking,” the second installment of Bekmambetov’s “Looking” franchise, subsequent February.

“Bloat” marks the second collaboration between Bekmambetov’s manufacturing banner Bazelevs and Pulsar Content material. They beforehand teamed on Egor Baranov’s “Resurrected” starring Dave Davis (“The Vigil”) which is co-produced by Logical Footage and will likely be screened to patrons at AFM.

In addition to “Resurrected” and “Bloat,” Pulsar Content material’s slate at AFM additionally  consists of Anissa Bonnefont’s attractive thriller “La Maison” which Wild Bunch acquired for a number of territories and Edouard Salier’s “Tropic” which premiered at Unbelievable Fest and Sitges.

XYZ Movies’s present tasks embrace “Blackberry” from director Matt Johnson, which simply bought to IFC Movies, “The Wasp” starring Naomie Harris and Natalie Dormer, “Ash,” starring Tessa Thompson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “The Black Kaiser” starring Mads Mikkelsen, “Hounds of Warfare” starring Frank Grillo, Robert Patrick and Rhona Mitra, and Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead movie “One thing within the Dust” which premiered at Sundance 2022. The banner’s present slate consists of Nic Cassavetes’ “God is a Bullet” starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maika Monroe and Jamie Foxx, amongst others.