Julius Avery To Direct ‘Crush’ For 20th Century Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Julius Avery, the Australian genre filmmaker behind titles like Overlord and The Pope’s Exorcist, is set to direct the snake-themed survival thriller for 20th Century Studios.

This marks the first big development on the project since we broke the news last fall that 20th had snapped up the hot spec from current Temple Hill executive John Fischer in a multi-studio bidding war.

While Crush‘s logline is being kept under wraps, sources said the film follows a woman hiking alone in the Everglades who wakes to find herself trapped in the crushing coils of a massive python, fighting to stay alive as every breath brings her closer to death. Pic is said to be inspired by true events and told primarily in real time.

Fischer, who serves as EVP Development and Production at Temple Hill Entertainment, wrote Crush on spec in his free time, unsure if he’d ever do anything with it. He posted the script on the Black List under the pseudonym J.W. Archer, which led to quick outreach from reps eager to sign him and take the project out. Fischer told us he felt self-conscious when first approaching his Temple Hill bosses to inform them about the script and the traction it was gaining, though clearly he needn’t have been. They’ve supported him in expanding creatively as he continues to juggle his day-to-day executive duties — not only giving their blessing but getting actively involved as producers on the project.

Scott Glassgold will produce for his 12:01 Films alongside Temple Hill — fresh off the sale of hot horror packages Siren Head and Cartoon Cat to Warner Bros. and Sony, respectively, and as he goes into production on Drew Hancock’s horror film Seasons for Amazon MGM Studios. J.R. Young is overseeing Crush for 20th Century Studios.

Avery is a filmmaker who made his feature debut with Son of a Gun, a crime thriller starring Ewan McGregor which marked one of A24’s early titles. He’s since gone on to direct the alt-history D-Day action-horror Overlord for Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot, the Sylvester Stallone superhero flick Samaritan for Amazon and United Artists, and the Russell Crowe-starring supernatural horror film The Pope’s Exorcist for Sony’s Screen Gems.

He is repped by WME, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and Gang, Tyre, Ramer.