Aaron Sims’ short film Archetype, a sci-fi thriller that made the rounds on YouTube a while back, has been picked up by Chronicle producer John Davis and will be developed into a feature-length film, THR reports. The seven-minute clip is constructed around combat robot RL7, who malfunctions during a mission and suddenly develops memories. But don’t take our word for it. Watch it yourself below and see what you think:
The effects in Sims’ short are outstanding. I’d love to know his budget. But the dude has skills, which he honed over the years working with several top design masters. THR notes that Sims studied under Rick Baker on movies like Batman Forever and Mighty Joe Young. He toiled away at Stan Winston Studio when they were contributing to Spielberg’s A.I. and the War of the Worlds remake. He currently operates his own visual effects house, Aaron Sims Co., which recently worked on Rise of the Planet of the Apes and War Horse. Now that’s an impressive resume.
Davis, a long-time producer, also knows a thing or two about sci-fi robots, having produced Will Smith’s I, Robot, the original Predator, Kevin Costner’s Waterworld, and Eragon, to name just a few titles.
Davis seems like the ideal producer for Sims’ vision, but again, I’m wondering what kind of budget Archetype will get. Then again, Sims – who’ll direct the Archetype feature – whipped up this seven-minute clip, which looks marvelous, so maybe he has a plan in place to save Davis some dough while still delivering blockbuster-worthy effects. We’ll see, but based on this clip, Sims has a world I want to explore further and now it sounds like we’re going to get the chance.
