Director Eli Roth is aiming high with Clownpocalypse. The filmmaker behind the Hostel movies and the Death Wish remake is working with 3BlackDot to create a massive horror franchise. Roth and the company want to produce a movie, a video game, shows, merchandise, and more, all based on…Clownpocalypse.
What is Clownpocalypse?
The title sort of speaks for itself, but the exact plot is kept lock and key at the moment. The idea was conjured up by Roth and James Frey, the screenwriter and infamous author behind “A Million Little Pieces.” Philip Gelatt (Love Death + Robots) is writing the script based on the duo’s idea. No director is attached yet, but production is on track to begin in early 2020.
Clowns Everywhere
Clowns are scary again, thanks to the IT movies and those lame viral videos from a few years ago of people dressing up as clowns and scaring strangers for no good reason. Roth witnessed the trend and wants in. In a statement to Deadline, the director discussed his vision for Clownpocalypse:
I’ve had an amazing time collaborating with James Frey and the incredible team at 3BlackDot. From concept to art to the game play, every step of the way, no idea has been too crazy, and they’ve executed it at the highest level. For years I’ve had people tell me ‘You can’t do that in a game, it’s too insane’ and I finally found partners who said, ‘Let’s take this a step further.’ It feels like we’re making a game, movie and live experience with no parental supervision or studio to tell us to tone it down, and that’s the only way to create something spectacular and memorable. This will be a big, fun, scary event for gamers, movie fans, and people who love live events. The Clownpocalypse is coming. Get ready.
What is 3BlackDot?
3BlackDot is producing an array of content for the original idea. They’re already far along in developing a video game, which they’re financing themselves. Based in Los Angeles, they worked on the film adaptation of A Million Little Pieces, Queen & Slim, and the popular horror video game, Dead Realm.
In a statement, 3BlackDot’s President, Reginald Cash, said the following:
As a studio, we’re committed to developing and financing the most innovative content experiences. We are thrilled to continue to work with great visionaries and storytellers such as Eli and Philip in creating immersive worlds that traverse film, games, and live events. Audiences are in for a real surprise.
It’s a major investment from 3BlackDot from the sound of it. It’s a large-scale project covering a variety of different mediums and platforms. They’re betting big on Roth’s name, too, which isn’t a name that sells tickets like it once did. Most of his movies since his Hostel days have been underwhelming at the box-office.
Eli Roth’s Career
Over the last decade or so, Roth has been trying his hand at different material. He did direct a kids movie after all, and not only that, The House with a Clock in Its Walls turned out as his most enjoyable and giddy movie. When he stretched himself with the fantasy movie, he did his best work. When Roth has made his usual horror fare in recent years, like Knock Knock and The Green Inferno, they’ve left a lot to be desired. The same goes for his Death Wish remake, which in addition to being extremely tone def, was slow and unimaginative in execution. He’s very inconsistent as a director, so it’s hard to drum up too much interest in an idea such as Clownapocalypse, despite the catchy title. 3BlackDot and Roth have major plans for it, let’s see how it all pans out.
