Fox Negotiating to Pick Up Animated Short Film 'Ruin' for McG-Produced Feature (Exclusive)

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McG

Fox is in negotiations to pre-emptively pick up the movie rights to Ruin, an eight-minute animated short by Wes Ball, as well a pitch to turn it into a live-action movie.

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Ball is attached to direct the feature and will co-write the script with T.S. Nowlin. The two likely will work under the supervision of McG, who is negotiating to produce via his Wonderland Sound and Vision, with Steve Tzirlin, a Lucasfilm exec who oversaw story and script development for Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

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The video, which debuted on Vimeo in March, is set in a post-apocalyptic North American city overgrown with foliage and has an I Am Legend meets Terminator 2 vibe. While light on story, it’s a showcase for Ball’s ability to stage exciting chase sequences.

Fox, which bought the project before other studios met with the filmmaker, sees the property as having franchise potential. The plan, according to sources, is to make Ruin as a live-action feature.

The deal is shaping up to be in the high-six figures.

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Mary Viola will oversee for Wonderland, Steve Asbell will oversee for Fox.

Ball has done graphic work for HBO and Blu-ray and DVD featurettes for such movies as Star Trek and Aliens in the Attic. He won a Student Academy Award bronze medal in 2003 for his story A Work in Progress. He worked on Ruin on and off for two years.

Ball is repped by APA, the Gotham Group and Stone Meyer Genow. Nowlin is repped by WME and Caliber Media.

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