The project from Winter State Entertainment aims to fill its cast with renowned stunt doubles and performers as its leads.
Daredevil fight choreographer and stunt performer Chris Brewster has teamed up with Winter State Entertainment for a fresh and action-oriented take on the zombie genre.
Brewster, who also doubles for Daredevil star Charlie Cox and was the fight choreographer for Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, is set to direct Outbreak Z, an indie action-horror movie that aims to be cast entirely of renowned stunt doubles and performers in its leading roles.
Written by Hamid Torabpour, Clint Narramore and Andrew Kightlinger, the story focuses on two SWAT officers on a desperate hunt through an overrun college campus in search of a man who holds a vaccine to a zombie virus.
“The DNA of our project is 'action movie' through and through, and that is why we are casting Hollywood’s stunt superstars in lead roles,” Brewster said in a statement. “Our zombies will not move or act like anything that the audience seen before — the action tells the story, so the reactions and defense against the zombies will be vastly different than prior movies in this genre. I truly believe that stunt performing is a dream job. We play full contact make believe and the more fun we have, the more fun the audience will have!”
Hamid and Camille Torabpour, Dr. Mark Smith and Brewster are producing the pic.
The project is not only actively casting but has already lined up a composer: Eric Arjesis, the Nashville-based songwriter and producer behind "Bad Blood," a song which was heard on The Walking Dead, and who has worked with Tim McGraw and Lonestar.
The goal is to begin shooting in Minneapolis later this year or in early 2019.
“Outbreak Z will not be your typical zombie movie,” said Hamid Torabpour, who along with his wife Camille created Owatonna, Minnesota-based Winter State with the goal of being a production hub in the Midwest. “Chris’ experience on many Marvel features makes him the perfect leader for this film. We will take a very stylistic and unique approach, utilizing the industry’s top stunt performers in the main cast roles, aiming to go beyond what mainstream features can accomplish on screen. With this feature, we want to highlight the amazing work that stunt performers bring to film and give them the spotlight in lead roles.”
The Outbreak Z announcement follows last week’s news of Netflix and Chris Hemsworth prepping to make Dhaka, an action thriller to be directed by Chris Evans’ stunt double and stunt coordinator Sam Hargrave. Previously, Keanu Reeves’ stunt double and stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski partnered with fellow stunt master David Leitch in launching their directing careers with the John Wick franchise.
In addition to Daredevil and Ant-Man, Brewster’s extensive credits include Marvel’s Black Panther, Agents of SHIELD, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Winter Solder, Thor: The Dark World and Iron Man 3. Other credits range from American Ultra to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to Star Trek Into Darkness.
Gato1980 on September 5th, 2018 at 21:27 UTC »
For some reason, my first thought was this Daredevil fight scene, and I wondered why anyone would choose that as an example of their work.
the_great_ashby on September 5th, 2018 at 19:44 UTC »
If this is a Dying Light-esque movie,I would be up for it.
mukawalka on September 5th, 2018 at 18:59 UTC »
good. stunt performers are extremely under appreciated, and the ones that manage to break into acting are usually awesome, such as Ray Park.