Bait 3D secures US distribution deal
An Australian 3D horror film has sold its US distribution rights.
Bait 3D, produced by Arclight Films’ Gary Hamilton, Todd Fellman and Peter Barber and directed by Kimble Rendall has been picked up by Anchor Bay Films.
The cast include Xavier Samuel, Sharni Vinson, Dan Wyllie, Julian McMahon and Singaporean actors Adrian Pang and Qi Yuwu.
Hamilton told Encore: “We have a strong working relationship with them for a number of years and they have a great take on marketing the film.”
Hamilton said the film will be finished in June.
While there is no US release date yet, Hamilton said: “We are hoping there will be a world wide release around September.”
The deal was negotiated by Kevin Kasha, executive vice president of acquisitions and co-productions, Josh Thomashow and Marc Barson of Anchor Bay Films and Gary Hamilton, Chris Perry and Mike Gabrawy for Arclight.
Kasha said: “Bait in 3D is the ultimate shark thrill ride that will make you think twice about getting back in the water.”
Bait 3D is the story of a group of shoppers first terrorised by a crazed criminal in an underground shopping mall before a tsunami engulfs the beach community washing a pack of great white sharks into the mall.
The film was the first Australian-Singaporean production to be made under a co-production treaty and filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast in 2010 with a budget of $20m.
Anchor Bay Films recent releases include Seeking Justice, Solitary Man and City Island.
- Update: The trailer linked to earlier is no longer available on YouTube after a copyright claim by the producers
Looks like absolute B- grade crap to me with not a skerrick of originality. Why would an audience pay a 3D admission premium to see this? 20 million is an awful lot to recoup for an Australian film and even if it grossed 10 million in Australia, which it won’t, after exhibitor rentals of 35% average, distributor commission and print and advertising costs and any advance there will be little overage to investors from theatrical. So it is essentially a DVD/download title made for far more than its worth with a lot of government subsidy (estimated 8-10 million). Love to be wrong but if this breaks out I’ll eat hake for a week!
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Sorry I should have said that after deducting exhibitor rentals the sum left in the hands of the distributor is around 35%.
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Have they taken it too seriously?
the idea of sharks in a shopping centre after a tidal wave sounds like more fun than this looks.
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Wow!! 1.52 is the cheapest looking fake shark I’ve ever seen! And I’ve seen almost every straight to DVD sharksploitation piece of crap out there! If this is not tongue in cheek fun (which by the looks of it, it’s not) it’s just going to be embarrassing for all involved. Sad.
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I work for a company involved with making this film. This is not a trailer, but a leaked sales promo, aimed at selling the film to distributors around the world. It was cut very early in the post production process, before the completion of any special effects. Further to this, selling a film to a distributor is a different matter to selling it to an audience, so sales promos quite often play very badly if you look at them from an audience perspective, and they are often, like this one, put together quite quickly.
Mumbrella should take this promo down as it’s not intended for public viewing.
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Just in response to the other Harry’s comments above made on 12 April, it seems that whoever he is, and whatever bone he has to pick, he has missed an important factor and that is, films are recouped through other means and not just domestic box office!
For example – major sales to major territories like the USA! Which is what this article was about! Pretty sure there are other international sales and theatrically releases besides USA planned for the film, as it is obviously very commercial and internationally minded, probably mores so than a lot of other government funded productions. I think the investors would not be disappointed at all! And that is not to say I agree with him about the box office comments. I think that the box office in Australia and USA and any other territories will not be disappointing, I think quite the opposite and will enjoy seeing him eat his hake!
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