EXCLUSIVE: Cameras are rolling in Winnipeg on supernatural horror feature Elevator Game, with a new director onboard. Production began this month with Rebekah McKendry (Glorious) replaced Michael Goi on the film, which is based on the online phenomenon of the same name.
Fearworks Production is producing in association with AMP, Buffalo Gal Pictures, Head Gear Films and Metrol Technology. It’s being produced with the participation of Manitoba Film & Music and producers are Ed Elbert (Anna And The King) and Stefan Brunner (Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance) for Fearworks and James Norrie for AMP.
Elevator Game follows socially awkward teenager Ryan, who discovers that the night his sister disappeared she had played ‘The Elevator Game’ — a ritual conducted in an elevator, in which players attempt to travel to another dimension using a set of rules that can be found online. Ignoring warnings, he resolves to follow and find her.
Written by Travis Seppala (Captive), it stars Gino Anania (Skymed) as Ryan. Also starring are Alec Carlos (Orphan: First Kill), Megan Best (Séance), Nazariy Demkowicz (Dark Harvest), Verity Marks (Toys of Terror), Madison MacIsaac and Samantha Halas.
Executive Producers are Phil Hunt and Compton Ross for Head Gear Films, Inderpal Singh for AMP, Phyllis Laing for Buffalo Gal Pictures and Kevin Hicks.
The ‘Elevator Game’ emerged from South Korea and has become an online phenomenon globally over the past decade, particularly on Reddit and YouTube. Though broadly considered an urban legend, the creepy ritual has repeatedly been blamed for mysterious disappearances and deaths, including that of student Elisa Lam at LA’s Cecil Hotel in 2013. Articles about it frequently caution potential players.
As Deadline reported last year, Elevator Game (aka The Elevator Game) was pre-sold by AMP International to Capelight Pictures (German-speaking Europe), Paradise (CIS and the Baltics), Sun Distribution (Latin America, Spain and Portugal), Scanbox (Scandinavia), M2 (Poland), Just Entertainment (Benelux), Front Row Entertainment (Middle East), MovieCloud (Taiwan), Mockingbird (Vietnam) and Sahamongkol (Thailand). Negotiations continue elsewhere.
