'Panic Attack' Video Short Leads To $30 Million Movie Deal

A five-minute short film has earned an Uruguayan filmmaker a $30 million movie deal.

This after Fede Alvarez, who posted his short video called 'Panic Attack' online in November, caught the eye of Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures.

The short entitled 'Panic Attack' is a special-effects heavy, District 9-style feature about giant robots attacking and destroying Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

"I uploaded Panic Attack on a Thursday and on Monday my inbox was totally full of emails from Hollywood studios," Alvarez tells BBC's Latin American service, BBC Mundo. "It was amazing, we were all shocked."

Alvarez says he made the film for less than $300. The 31-year-old has accepted an offer from the 'Spider-Man' director to develop a feature-length film, however, it will not necessarily be based on the premise of his short, which was made just to promote Alvarez's post-production visual effects house.

"They sent me emails that said 'Now that we've seen what can be done with 300 dollars, let's see what you can do with 30 million," says Alvarez. "It was wonderful, out of this world."

And not only does the video have a District 9 tone to yet, Alvarez is already drawing comparisons to the film for another reason.

The sci-fi hit's director, Neill Blomkamp, also got his start with a short film. Blomkamp's unique six-minute short film, called 'Alive in Jo'Burg', helped put him on the map and land the deal to bankroll the sci-fi hit.

Fede Alvarez's 'Panic Attack':

Neill Blomkamp's 'Alive in Jo'Burg':

December 18, 2009 |

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