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Elijah Wood & Sasha Grey to 'Open Windows' in Laptop Based Thriller

by Ethan Anderton
November 5, 2012
Source: Screen Daily

Found footage films like Paranormal Activity have given us a story that unfolds through the point of view of various cameras situated around a house. Now a new thriller will take that to another extreme. Screen Daily has word that Elijah Wood and porn star turned Hollywood actress Sasha Grey will star in a thriller called Open Windows, which unfolds on the screen of a laptop computer connected to the Internet. Nacho Vigolando (Timecrimes) is directing the film which follows Wood on a desperate search for an actress (grey) who has been abducted by a vicious man named Chord, played by British actor Neil Maskell.

This sounds a little similar to Buried, Rodirgo Cortes' thriller that takes place entirely in a coffin with Ryan Reynolds buried alive. Wild Bunch is behind the English-language film and executive Vincent Maraval says, "Open Windows develops in real time, delivering 90 minutes of suspense in a tense, fast-paced, high-tech thriller with action and terror, updating the key elements of 70s paranoid thrillers through today’s computer and online environment." But the director himself had some more interesting words to say on this project:

“Just as in Brian De Palma’s 'Blow Out,' the girl is captured. The hero will have to use every means at his disposal to discover where she is, and rescue her from the villain before its too late. The action will be followed on the screen of a laptop connected to the Internet – an approach that has excited us all from the outset. Something like this means going beyond high concept films like 'Paranormal Activity,' 'Cloverfield' or 'Chronicle.' Instead of simulating a home video camera, we will be representing a computer desktop. The movie screen becomes a computer screen, and the spectator becomes the protagonist of this adventure.”

Wood sounds very excited about the prospect saying, “I’ve wanted to work with Nacho since I first saw Timecrimes and his incredible short films. We got to know one another at Fantastic Fest in Austin and when he approached me with this project, truly one of the most unique and exciting films I’ve ever encountered, I leapt at the chance to be a part of it.” Buried was one of my favorite films in 2010, and this sounds like it has the potential to be a truly unique thriller, and offering much more than the traditional found footage film is delivering nowadays. Stay tuned.

Filed under Casting, Development, Movie News

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