Legendary Pictures are the latest studio to give a new director a chance thanks to a short genre film. Julian Terry will get an opportunity to expand his 8-minute horror short They Hear It into a feature film after the studio liked his proof of concept, and compared the short to IT and A Nightmare On Elm Street.
This method of discovering genre filmmakers has become popular over the past half-decade, with filmmakers such as Andy Muschietti getting a career breakthrough when his Mama short was expanded into the full 2013 film of the same name.
Fede Alvarez caught the attention of Sam Raimi the same way, and was then given the directing gig on the 2013 Evil Dead remake. David F. Sandberg was also given the chance to adapt his horror short, Lights Out, into a full length film.
They Hear It reportedly revolves around “a mysterious and terrifying noise called ‘The Sound’ that attracts children when they hear it”, and will “explore an ominous presence that stalks the youthful inhabitants of a small community”.
Little else is known about the film, but it’s an intriguing premise, and the past few horror breakout hits have come from up-and-coming directors, including last year with Jordan Peele‘s Get Out, and this year with Ari Aster‘s Hereditary. Could They Hear It be next?
#Peace.Love.TheyHearIt
