Alex Garland to Make Directorial Debut With Scott Rudin-Produced Indie (Exclusive)

28 Days Later writer Alex Garland is gearing up to make his directorial debut with the indie robot thriller Ex Machina.

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DNA Films, which has collaborated with Garland on a number of films including Dredd, Never Let Me Go and his breakout 28 Days Later, is onboard to produce alongside Scott Rudin and Eli Bush.

Garland wrote the screenplay for Ex Machina, which centers on a billionaire programmer who handpicks a young employee to spend a week at his remote estate and participate in a test involving his latest invention: an artificially intelligent female robot.

DNA Films’ Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich also are producing and are eyeing a summer or fall shoot for the film and a budget of about $15 million.

Meanwhile, Benderspink is developing a different project also titled Ex Machina, about a superhero who decides to better use his power by becoming the mayor of New York. That project is in early development.

Garland also wrote the novel The Beach, which was turned into a film directed by Danny Boyle.

Email: Tatiana.Siegel@THR.com, Twitter: @TatianaSiegel27