Neopol Film, The Playmaker Reteam With ‘Holy Shit!’ Director Lukas Rinker on Eco-Horror ‘Paws’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Neopol Film, a production company based in Frankfurt, and Munich-based sales agency The Playmaker have teamed for a second time with writer and director Lukas Rinker, following their collaboration on his debut feature, black comedy “Holy Shit!,” which was sold by The Playmaker to multiple territories last year.
Producers Tonio Kellner, Andrea Simml and Jakob Zapf will be pitching Rinker’s latest feature film project, eco-horror “Paws,” at Frontières, a market and networking platform focused on genre film financing and co-production between Europe and North America. Frontières is organized by the Fantasia Intl. Film Festival, in partnership with the Cannes Film Market, and takes place on May 20 and 21 in Cannes.
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Loredana Rehekampff and Andreas Schmied will co-produce the project for Austria’s Samsara Filmproduction.
The film centers on young scientist Nook, who’s on board a research ship in the Arctic. Reformed oil billionaire Fox is funding the crews’ efforts to fight climate change. Just when Nook learns that Fox’s interest is not so much in saving the planet but exploring and claiming fresh oil fields, their ship crashes.
The crew search an abandoned Russian ghost-ship looking for a radio, but uncover a horrific threat: Inside the rusty trawler a monstrous polar bear mother has been trapped with her cub. Not only will the animal defend her nest but has grown very hungry and will seize the opportunity to feed on the survivors.
Meanwhile, Fox begins to drill for oil and sees Nook as a threat to his business. Nook radios for help, but only a squad of Russian mercenaries return her call, and they are also interested in the oil.
Speaking to Variety, Rinker explains why he chose the Arctic as the setting of his new film, and why he put a polar bear at its center. “The eternal darkness of the polar night and alien-esque qualities of the Arctic landscape inspired me, and led me to believe that there’s a thrilling story there, and an affordable movie to be made,” he says.
“The polar bear – the largest terrestrial predator on Earth – comes to mind as the natural monster to roam this setting, but it also is a perfect fit for my agenda – to condemn the never-ending destruction of nature. And have the people responsible eaten.”
The horror genre works well for his story. “I love genre and I love horror,” he says. “Being trapped on an ice-field with no help in sight, freezing temperatures and a looming hungry monster – seemed very horrifying to me. And from the bears perspective, having your habitat exploited and melted away, with nothing you can do against those greedy intruders, is horrific.
“Then there’s the climate angle. Horror all around!
“Also, I believe horror can deliver one of the best audience experiences to have in a cinema.”
He chose to use an animatronics company to bring the polar bear to life and not CGI. “Not so much the cost as the look and feel has always repelled me from CG animals,” he says. “They’re never good, breaking the illusion the second they show up – at least for me. Since and before ‘The Revenant’ I haven’t seen one believable bear in a movie.
“So – as long as I have a say in it – it absolutely has to be an animatronics-creature – to touch and to light and to act off of.”
Rinker’s assured writing and direction on “Holy Shit!” compelled Kellner to work with him again on this project. “At Neopol Film, we just love Lukas’ writing, which is quite precise, emotionally to the point, and absolutely entertaining. While directing his script ‘Holy Shit!,’ Lukas also proved the quality of his directorial skills and his black humored, exaggerated voice, which was also dearly noticed by audiences around the world.”
Kellner believes audiences will feel driven and excited to watch the new film. “ ‘Paws’ will be very fun for a broader audience by going beyond the thrills of a creature-feature, and twisting the classic evil beast into an endangered animal. The polar bear on its juicy revenge trip is a sharp metaphorical note on our world’s current state, hence this will surely be satisfying and thought provoking.”
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