Music video directors making features are pretty hit and miss. For every David Fincher, Spike Jonze, or even Michael Bay, there’s a dozen or so video directors who never quite seem to make the leap (we’re still waiting on the masterful Chris Cunningham to make his feature debut, hey Chris!). However, it looks as if a regular Lady Gaga and Beyonce music video director, Stephan Zlotescu, will be trying next, only he’s already caught the attention of a major studio.
Warner Bros. has snapped up “True Skin” (via The Wrap), which is a science fiction short that sent Hollywood studios and producers into a bidding war when it debuted online two weeks ago, with WB coming out on top. Zlotescu, will also be helming the feature-length version of the film – which centers on a near-future world where humans undergo procedures to improve their bodies by having doctors replace body parts with mechanized pieces. The main character of the short travels to Bangkok to pay a cheaper fee on the black market, but when unsavory characters find out the man is in the process of turning into a robot, he’s put firmly in their crosshairs.
David Heyman will be producing through his Heyman Films banner, having already bonded with the major studio with producing credits on all of the “Harry Potter” films, as well as “Children of Men” helmer Alfonso Cuaron’s upcoming Sci-Fi thriller “Gravity.” We’re sure that Zlotescu won’t receive the sort of funds someone like Cuaron would for a big tentpole, but we can certainly see the filmmaker delivering a rich visual aesthetic and solid production values on a budget, much like he did in the short. Zlotescu has worked on and shot videos for folks like Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Chris Brown, T Pain, M.I.A., Nicki Minaj, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, Mary J Blige and worked often with Hype Williams. Check out the original short that started it all below.
Lastly, speaking of Gaga, dumb rumors floated around the U.K. rags yesterday that said the superstar would appear in "Zoolander 2." Thankfully, Ben Stiller himself squashed that rumor hard this morning. The end.
Zoolander LadyGaga story is not true. Weird that OK magazine would print something untrue. Weird to read a made up story on the internet.
— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) October 19, 2012