Good Boy director Ben Leonberg is set to helm Follow Mode, a found footage-style serial killer horror movie shot entirely with drones, according to Deadline.
Consumer-grade drones now come with a “hands-free” setting that automatically directs the camera to follow you – in case you’re a surfer taking your next wave, a snowboarder back-flipping off a half-pipe, or a serial killer stalking your next victim.
When a group of teens knock this drone out of the sky, they discover that it contains home movies of the killer’s brutal crimes. Now, they must race to expose the killer before becoming his next victims.
Leonberg and his Good Boy writing partner Alex Cannon penned the script.
Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey, John Fischer, Hal Sadoff, & Ben Levine of Temple Hill Entertainment (Smile, Clown in a Cornfield) produce. Dave Bishop, James Pugh, and George Hamilton of Protagonist Pictures (The Lobster, Bronson) serve as executive producers.
Protagonist will launch international sales at the upcoming Cannes film market. Temple Hill and Verve Ventures are co-repping domestic rights.
“The rise of hands-free drone technology has introduced a chilling new vulnerability to everyday life — anyone with a drone can become a peeping tom, a stalker, or worse,” commented Leonberg. “That anxiety drives Follow Mode. We’re so thrilled to be partnered with Temple Hill, whose track record in the genre makes them a perfect fit for this unsettling new take on found footage.”
“We were blown away by Ben’s first film Good Boy and its original approach to perspective in the horror space and sought him out to find something to do together,” added Temple Hill. “We see Follow Mode as the next evolution of the found footage movie – playing on the terrifying reality that any of us could be followed and watched by store-bought technology. With Ben’s tremendous vision and expertise in POV filmmaking, we couldn’t be more excited to share this spine-chilling project with audiences around the world.”
“Follow Mode is the kind of bold, high-concept horror that stops you in your tracks – propulsive, original and viscerally thrilling from its first frame to its last,” said Bishop. “In Good Boy, Ben proved he is a filmmaker both comfortable pushing boundaries and mastering tension. Shot entirely with drones, delivering a strikingly cinematic experience, Follow Mode offers a new perspective on terror audiences have simply never seen before. Ben has crafted a rare, diabolical treat that feels both groundbreaking and deeply unsettling.”
Leonberg also recently signed on to direct an adaption of Grady Hendrix’s Ankle Snatcher for Sony.
