Check out the posters for EUROPA REPORT and HELL BABY!

In the ongoing battle to clear my e-mail inbox of all the juicy press releases, trailers, and posters, I came across the new posters for two films I'm not quite familiar with, namely EUROPA REPORT and HELL BABY. Check out the posters (click on them to get a better view!) and plot synopses below:

Prometheus meets J.J. Abrams' lens-flares?

EUROPA REPORT
Coming to iTunes & On Demand on June 27th; playing in select theaters on August 2nd.

Directed by Sebastián Cordero
Starring Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist, Christian Camargo, Embeth Davidtz, Dan Fogler, Anamaria Marinca, Isiah Whitlock, JR., Karolina Wydra and Daniel Wu

A unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller, EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa’s icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean.

After a near-catastrophic technical failure that leads to loss of communication with Earth and the tragic death of a crewmember, the surviving astronauts must overcome the psychological and physical toll of deep space travel, and survive a discovery on Europa more profound than they had ever imagined.

This sounds like it could be really good, and several names in the cast stand out, particularly Sharlto Copley (DISTRICT 9 and THE A-TEAM) and Embeth Davidtz (Sheila from ARMY OF DARKNESS)! Good (strictly) sci-fi films are few and far between these days, so I plan on giving this one a go!

Next up is a new comedy from the creators of RENO 911......

Satan's baby is a Dio fan!

HELL BABY
Written and Directed by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant

Starring Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan-Michael Key, Michael Ian Black, Riki Lindhome, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer

HELL BABY, is a comedy scripted by Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant (Night at The Museum, Reno 911!: Miami) that marks their co-directing debut. Jack (Rob Corddry) and Vanessa (Leslie Bibb) are an expectant couple that moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans -- a house with a deadly demonic curse.

Things soon spiral out of control for Jack and Vanessa, as well as their-not-so-helpful neighbor F'Resnel (Keegan-Michael Key), Vanessa's friendly psychiatrist (Michael Ian Black), Vanessa's Wiccan sister Marjorie (Riki Lindhome) and the detectives assigned to look into the rising body count (Rob Huebel and PaulScheer). Only the Vatican's elite exorcism team (Garant and Lennon) can save them -- or can they?

I was a big fan of RENO 911 back in the day, and the cast in HELL BABY is pretty solid, so I'm more than willing to give this one a look. At the moment there isn't a theatrical or home video release date, but I'll be sure to let you all know once I get that information.

Magnet Releasing snaps up U.S. distribution for EUROPA REPORT.

Europa Report features NON-STOP SOLAR PANEL ACTION!

Up until now, I've never even heard of EUROPA REPORT, a new sci-fi film featuring Sharlto Copley (DISTRICT 9 and THE A-TEAM). The film follows a team of astronauts that make a trip to the titular moon of Jupiter and uh... stuff happens! Here's the lowdown on the film and its distributor:

The Wagner/Cuban Company’s Magnet Releasing, genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, announced today that they’ve acquired US rights to EUROPA REPORT, a groundbreaking science fiction film starring Sharlto Copley (District 9), about the exploration of Jupiter’s moon, Europa. EUROPA REPORT marks Copley's first return to science fiction since the 2009 blockbuster District 9, as well as the English language debut of director Sebastián Cordero, who once again worked with two longtime collaborators, Academy Award winning Production Designer Eugenio Caballero (Pan's Labyrinth, The Impossible) and Director of Photography Enrique Chediak (127 Hours).

The film was written by Philip Gelatt and produced by Wayfare Entertainment's Ben Browning. Executive Producers were Wayfare's Michael Maher and Jeremy Kipp Walker. The film features music by Bear McCreary (Battlestar Galactica, The Walking Dead). The film was financed by Wayfare Entertainment and China's Sil Metropole. A unique blend of documentary, alternative history and science fiction thriller, EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system.

Developed in close collaboration with NASA, JPL, SpaceX and other leaders in the scientific community, the film imagines the next step in manned space exploration and is based on recent scientific discoveries and theories. “EUROPA REPORT is an exceptionally smart, thrilling film that will be a revelation for space enthusiasts and science fiction fans alike,” said Magnolia President Eamonn Bowles. “Its nuanced attention to scientific detail lends it an exciting quality that elevates it above the usual genre fare.”

"Sebastián has made a unique and challenging film that looks and feels epic despite being contained, and we're confident has the potential to get into the zeitgeist. We also think it is a great example of the genre-bending films that Magnolia has had such success with, and we look forward to working with them again" said Browning. Magnolia secured the rights over several other distributors in out of market bidding, believing the film perfectly calibrated for its distribution model.

They will release the film later this year. The deal was negotiated by Magnolia’s SVP of Acquisitions Dori Begley and Director of Acquisitions Peter Van Steemburg with CAA on behalf of the filmmakers. Sierra-Affinity's Nick Meyer is handling international rights and will be screening the film at the European Film Market in Berlin.

You know, the movie could be really interesting, but Magnolia's president makes it sound like pretentious crap. It'll be a "revelation" for space enthusiasts and sci-fi fans? It has nuanced attention to detail? It's "genre-bending?" Will be part of the zeitgeist?! (i.e. spirit of the age or spirit of the time) Quit trying to impress me with your fancy words sir, and try and SELL me on this movie. As it stands, it looks like just another "we're traveling to a distant planet/moon looking for alien life.... OH SHIT WE FOUND IT! AHHHHH!" type of movie. And it appears to be another "found footage" movie as well if the teaser trailer is any indication:


Aside from the presence of Sharlto Copley, there's not much here to get me pumped for EUROPA REPORT, unless there's a randomly awesome cameo by 80's rock group Europe somewhere in the movie. Think about that for a minute: How awesome would it be if Sharlto Copley and friends arrived on Europa, and were greeted by a weird, alien hair-metal band that started belting out "The Final Countdown?" That my friends, would be cinematic perfection.