By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Continuing the trend of studios selling off genre features to streaming services, the new film from CITADEL director Ciaran Foy (pictured) is headed for the biggest one.
Collider reports that Foy’s ELI has been sold to Netflix by Paramount Pictures, which had originally scheduled the movie to open January 4. Scripted by CHEAP THRILLS’ David Chirchirillo (who discussed the movie with us here) and the AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE duo of Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing, ELI is about a young boy with an autoimmune disease who is sent to a remote clinic for treatment. When it turns out the place is haunted, he is literally unable to leave. The film stars Charlie Shotwell in the title role, along with Kelly Reilly, Lili Taylor, Sadie Sink (STRANGER THINGS) and Max Martini; Netflix will debut it sometime in 2019. This follows in the wake of Paramount passing THE CLOVERFIELD PARADOX on to Netflix, and Universal selling it EXTINCTION, from HOUNDS OF LOVE director Ben Young. “I’ve had a lot of really good experiences with genre material on Netflix and I’m really proud for them to have this movie,” says ELI producer Trevor Macy, whose Mike Flanagan chillers HUSH and BEFORE I WAKE were acquired by Netflix, with whom the duo later collaborated on GERALD’S GAME and the HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE series.
