Magnet Picks Up Worldwide Rights to Don Coscarelli's 'John Dies at the End'

Magnet Releasing, the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures, has picked up worldwide rights to John Dies at the End, the sci-fi/horror movie from horror icon Don Coscarelli.

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The movie premiered as a work in progress at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, played at SXSW and, as a finished version, will close out the Midnight Madness sidebar at TIFF in September.

Magnet plans on releasing it on VOD platforms in late December followed by a theatrical release in early 2013.

The movie stars Paul Giamatti as an investigator trailing a street drug that promises an out-of-body experience. across dimensions. But when some who return are no longer human, and it becomes apparent that a secret invasion is underway, two college dropouts are thrust in heroic roles they are unprepared for.

Coscarelli, who made his name with the classic Phantasm series as well as the cult film Bubba Ho-Tep, wrote, directed and produced the film. The film, which is based on a book by David Wong, was also produced by M3 Creative’s Brad Baruh, Andy Meyers and Roman Perez.

Magnolia/Magnet President Eamonn Bowles described the film as having “all the makings of an underground classic that fans will come back to again and again.”