Following the Snapchat and TikTok market, Timur Bekmambetov is now overseeing a $10m movie made in a vertical aspect ratio.
The movies continue to evolve, and this time, it’s screen sizes that are in the crosshairs. Not for the first time in the history of cinema, a film is going to adapt to the shape of the screen that lots of viewers are now watching material on. That in this case, the portrait vertical format – driven by smartphones and associated social networking apps – is to be adopted for a new feature film.
It’s the design of filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov, who has already enjoyed success with traditional blockbusters (Wanted)) and films based around screens (he oversaw Unfriended and Searching). Now, he’s heading into production on V2: Escape From Hell, billed as the first blockbuster to be made in a vertical format.
The film itself is set in World War II, with Pavel Priluchny set to star as a Russian pilot captured and sent to a German concentration camp, from which he tries to escape. With a budget of $10m, this is hardly a low cost experiment, and part of the funding has come from Russian mobile phone giants MTS.
A version in Russian and English will be made, the latter coming with different scenes too. And the idea is to have the film in cine… well, on your phone by the sounds of it in early 2021.
Lead image: BigStock
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