Weinstein Co. Fires Up Timur Bekmambetov's ‘Apollo 18'

Trevor Cawood directs the alien thriller from a script by Brian Miller

The Weinstein Company has emerged from a competitive bidding situation with the worldwide rights to "Apollo 18," a super-secretive extraterrestrial movie that "Wanted" director Timur Bekmambetov is creatively spearheading, according to Deadline.

Trevor Cawood is directing from a script by Brian Miller, while Bekmambetov is producing the picture, which is described as a horror movie set in a small spaceship where two astronauts get attacked by alien spiders.

TWC agreed to fully finance the film after Bob Weinstein met several times with Bekmambetov, who presented footage that purported to have been shot by the crew of Apollo 18. NASA officially canceled that early '70s moon mission, but rumor has it that the mission actually happened.

Like J.J. Abrams' "Super 8" and Oren Peli's upcoming "Area 51," Bekmambetov's footage shows signs of alien life, and an outer space thriller is crafted from the events of the mission.

Production is already well underway, as TWC will release the film on March 4, 2011.

Cawood previously worked in the visual effects department on the two "Matrix" sequelss, and also co-wrote, directed and exec produced the '70s-set short film "Terminus."

Bekmambetov next directs the big screen adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's novel "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," which 20th Century Fox will release on June 22, 2012. He's also producing New Regency's alien invasion thriller "The Darkest Hour," which stars Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby.

Bekmambetov and Cawood are represented by WME, while Miller is repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment.