Hot on the heels of YouTube filmmakers like Curry Barker and Kane Parsons topping the box-office with “Obsession” and “Backrooms” respectively, another viral short filmmaker is setting feature film plans.
Kevin Cate‘s three-minute viral sci-fi short “Open Door,” which has garnered nearly 15 million views across YouTube, TikTok and Instagram, will be adapted into a feature-length film.
Cate teamed with “IO” screenwriter Charles Spano to write a spec script based on his short and as part of a six-figure development deal for the project. Budgeting for the film is expected to be finished later this month.
Sean Anthony Baker and Mia Matthews will reprise their roles from the short, which follows two people on an elevator ride from hell. The film is said to follow “the surreal, genre-bending journey of Malcolm Powers”.
Cate said in a statement: “I literally can’t go a day without someone asking me what our characters saw down there. And I really, really can’t wait to show everyone – and give some hints along the way … We are ride or die with our original cast and crew who made this all happen.”
Before that, Cate will make his feature filmmaking debut on “Unbearable Christmas,” which stars Julia Stiles, David Cross and Stephen Root.
Other YouTube short filmmakers with upcoming projects are “Portrait of God” director Dylan Clark and “Mora” director Sam Evenson. The original “Open Door” short can be seen by clicking here.
Source: Variety