‘The Pope’s Exorcist’ Director Julius Avery Boards Alien Abduction Thriller ‘They Found Us’

Julius Avery (Samaritan, Overlord, The Pope’s Exorcist) has come on board to direct They Found Us, an alien abduction thriller from Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios being co-produced with Temple Hill (Smile, Twilight franchises)

Avery will direct They Found Us from an original screenplay by Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight, The Exorcist) with Godfrey and Marty Bowen producing for Temple Hill. Ford and Temple Hill’s John Fischer will act as executive producers. AGC International will handle international sales and co-rep US rights with UTA Independent Film Group.

District 9 helmer Neill Blomkamp was originally attached to the project, with Joel Kinnaman to star as a father who tries to mend his broken relationship with his daughter during a camping trip in the Utah wilderness, only to be attacked by a hostile extraterrestrial, determined to kidnap them and take them to an unknown and terrifying alien world. The film is currently re-casting for a planned shoot in Australia in the first half of 2025.

Avery has been a feature on the genre film circuit since his 2014 debut feature, the crime drama Son of a Gun, starring Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites. His sophomore effort, Overlord (2018), a WWII horror film produced by J.J. Abrams, starred Jovan Adepo and Wyatt Russell. He followed that up with the Sylvester Stallone superhero actioner Samaritan for Amazon, and Screen Gems’ The Pope’s Exorcist, starring Russell Crowe.

Avery is repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment. Slater is represented by UTA, Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, and McKuin Frankel Whitehead. AGC’s EVP of Legal & Business Affairs Anant Tamirisa negotiated the deal on behalf of AGC and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs & Fox negotiated on behalf of Temple Hill.