Vincenzo Natali, the horror auteur behind the cult hit Cube and the less popular but equally interesting Cypher, is gaining some underground word-of-mouth hype for his new horror sci-fi hybrid Splice, which was an audience favorite at this year’s Sundance. The film is scheduled to be released this summer for your genetic-splicing pleasure.

Vincenzo Natali’s film Splice, which was a hit at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, will be coming to a theater near you this Summer. Joel Silver’s Dark House Entertainment and Warner Bros will be releasing this odd “gene-warping creature feature” on June 4th 2010. Dark Castle are in the end stages of a deal to give Splice a 3000-screen summer release, with a P&A (print and advertising) commitment of at least $25m and perhaps as high as $40m. [/Film]

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/Film has brought word that the Sundance horror hit Splice is being opted for a summer release by a proposed deal between Joel Silver and Dark Castle. The deal will reportedly give Splice a 3000-screen summer release with a print and advertising deal costing as much as $40 million. That’s a lot of dough for such a small flick. Read the full story

Rumors are swirling about one of the most talked about films at Sundance, a on the fly social media documentary following the real life story of two filmmakers and how one of their brothers becomes entranced in an online romance called ‘Catfish‘. The buzz this documentary has received from Sundance has probably been the best of any film to come out of this year’s festival, with many audience members consensus that this might have the most mainstream potential of most of the Sundance flock. Yesterday it was reported by First Showing, that the film was being screened at a Paramount lot where that attendees should “have seen and enjoyed” films like Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity, Slumdog Millionaire or An Inconvenient Truth. Seems like Paramount could be potentially positioning this film to be their next big indie hit. To add fire to these allegations, additional mumblings about Paramount heavyweights J.J Abrams and Jason Blum are also said to be pushing for the film to be released through their studio. However at 1am, Deadline reported that Brett Ratner has made an offer for ‘Catfish‘ with no need for test screenings. The race for the film is heating up and I’m sure filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost are enjoying their options.

Do you want to see “Catfish“?

In this episode of the The Film Stage podcast Jordan Raup and Dan Mecca discuss Tom Vaughan’s Extraordinary Measures and Scott Stewart’s Legion. We also talk about Sundance Film Festival including Buried, The Company Men and Cyrus (read about them here). You can stream the episode below or download it here. (right click + save as…) Read the full story

This has been assumed for quite some time but not really confirmed or denied. Well, here comes the confirmation from the man himself. Orlando Bloom answered the question directly (imagine an actor doing that?!) at Sundance as to his involvement with the franchise, saying ‘no he wouldn’t be in it’ but he was confident for it’s future, considering the talent of Johnny Depp and musical-based director Rob Marshall.

See for yourself, courtesy of AICN:

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Lionsgate bought Rodrigo Cortes’ indie thriller Buried this afternoon, amongst several bids for the film which features Ryan Reynolds as a American truck driver buried alive in an Iraqi desert. These reports come after a palpable amount of midnight screening buzz praising Reynolds’ performance and Cortes’ direction.

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Banksy, the renowned British graffiti artist, whose artworks are often satirical diatribes on topics such as politics, culture, and ethics, is shocking the independent film world with what may be the greatest film prank of all time. “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” billed as “A Banksy Film” , will have its world premiere Sunday night at the Library Center Theater as part of Sundance’s Spotlight Surprise.

“Sundance has shown films by unknown artists, but never an anonymous one,” said festival director John Cooper. He described the film as “part personal journey and part expose on the art world, with its mind-altering mix of hot air and hype.”

Source Reuters

This explains odd Banksy art popping up around Park City. You can view the trailer for the film below and attempt to decipher the mystery to what the film is all about. Check out some of his graffiti art below as well.

Do you think Banksy will reveal himself in the film?

As reported by Indiewire, three new American independent films from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival will debut on YouTube even before audiences get a chance to see the movies at the festival in Park City, UT.

Launching tomorrow for VOD rental online in the United States – from this year’s Sundance fest – are Michael Mohan’s One Too Many Mornings, Todd and Brad Barnes Homewrecker and Linas Philips’ Bass Ackwards. Meanwhile, from last year’s Sundance, YouTube will also be renting Tze Chun’s Children of Invention and Louie Psihoyo’s The Cove online.

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It’s hard to believe (and nice to see) that this film got made. The premise: an American truck driver in Iraq gets captured by terrorists who bury him alive and demand $1 million in order to dig him out. The buried man is equipped with only a lighter and a cell phone.

The entire screenplay exists inside this coffin. With one character: Paul Conroy, played by Ryan Reynolds. The indie is directed by Rodrigo Cortes.

It’s set to premiere at Sundance this month, and this new teaser and clip is sure to up the buzz. [Slash Film]

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Mexican actor Diego Luna will be making his feature directorial debut this month, with his film Abel set to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

After his mother brings little Abel home from the psychiatric ward, his family worries about how he will handle his father’s absence and whether or not he will suffer an emotion breakdown. He surprises them by deciding that he will become the father of the house, taking over the responsibilities of a family man. All is going well until a stranger shows up claiming to be his father. The film is told from the young boy’s perspective, as he blurs reality and fantasy. Read the full story