At the Sundance Q&A for the first hit of the festival, Buried, writer Chris Sparling was definitely the quietest figure. After all, he wasn't a celebrity like Ryan Reynolds, and he wasn't the director, Rodrigo Cortes, who managed to film a movie set entirely inside a coffin and not bore the audience in the process (read our review of the film here).
But Sparling is the one who thought the crazy idea was possible in the first place, and now he's being rewarded with a movie based on his next crazy idea. Variety reports that the Safran Co. and Gold Circle Films have picked up the rights to ATM Sparling's spec script about three people ending up in "a desperate fight for their lives" on a routine trip to the ATM. David Brooks, who made the short "Gone" and is apparently not the New York Times columnist, will direct.
The concept similarities between ATM and Buried are obvious, though with the greater potential for dialogue among three characters, maybe Sparling will get more credit as the genius behind the film this time. Then again, if it's too much liked Buried, we'll all just complain that it's derivative. Sparling's walking a tough line here, but with something as impressive as Buried behind him, he may just pull it off.
