Variety
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118057564
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Per Variety, German helmer Dennis Gansel is in negotiations to make his U.S. directorial debut on Grim Night, which is based on the original screenplay and short film by Brandon Bestenheider and Allen Bey. The film is set in a world where people lock themselves indoors one night a year for fear of random attacks from creatures known as the Grims. Below is a promo trailer put together by Bertino last year when he was marketing the idea to various studios.
Gansel made a name for himself in Europe with a number of German films, including We Are the Night (review here), Before the Fall, and The Wave, the latter of which played at Sundance in 2008.
Universal paid in the high six figures for the pitch last fall, and the project is something the studio is excited about and sees it as a potential franchise. Anikah McLaren, Universal’s director of development, will oversee the project for the studio.
In case you’re wondering what Bertino has been up to lately, production just wrapped on the Blumhouse production Mockingbird, which he wrote and directed.
Look for more on both projects soon!