Joseph Kahn primarily works as a music video director, having collaborated with the likes of Taylor Swift, Backstreet Boys, Rob Zombie, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears, U2, Aerosmith, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, Eminem, Maroon 5, Shakira, and many more – but he has also made a few feature films over the years. He made his feature debut with the 2004 action comedy Torque, and has followed that up with the comedy Bodied and the horror film Detention – which we’ve covered for both Awfully Good and Best Horror Movie You Never Saw. His latest movie is a creature feature called Ick, and JoBlo’s own Chris Bumbray had the chance to see it at the Toronto International Film Festival last year (you can read his 7/10 review at THIS LINK). Now, our friends at Bloody Disgusting have learned that a wider audience will have the chance to see the movie next month, as Fathom Entertainment is planning to bring Ick to select theatres in New York and Los Angeles for a one-week theatrical run starting July 24th. The theatrical release will then expand to theatres nationwide from July 27th through the 29th. To promote this release, a trailer for the film has been unveiled and can be seen in the embed above.
Ick is coming our way from Interstellar Entertainment and producer Steven Schneider. The film aims to “evoke the timeless creature features of the 1980s with an ambitious arsenal of scares and comedy.” Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Mena Suvari (American Beauty) star, with Routh taking on the role of Hank, a high school science teacher who still pines for his childhood sweetheart, played by Suvari. While discovering he may have a teenage daughter, Hank must grapple with a terrifying alien anomaly (the titular “Ick”) invading their small town. The teenager who might be Hank’s daughter is being played by Malina Weissman of Lemony Snicket’s Series of Unfortunate Events.
Here’s the official synopsis: For almost two decades, a viscous vine-like growth known colloquially as ‘The Ick’ has benignly crept into every nook and cranny of American life while the residents of small town Eastbrook remain blasé about its existence. The exceptions are former high school football star-turned-hapless science teacher Hank (Routh) and his sardonically perceptive student Grace (Weissman) who are thrown together by Grace’s mom Staci’s (Suvari) closely-guarded secret and a mutual suspicion that the Ick is about to unleash some monstrous mayhem. A wild ride driven by a power punk spirit, ICK is a dizzyingly fun and hilariously grotesque homage to throwback PG horror flicks, as well as an ode to Millennial nostalgia manifested in soundtrack needle drops by All American Rejects, Paramore, and Blink 182.
When the project was first announced, Kahn, who also wrote the screenplay with Sam Laskey and Dan Koontz, provided the following statement: “Ick is a movie that evokes primal fears about the world today, and best of all, it introduces a unique mysterious monster. I am thrilled that Interstellar has aligned to produce this modern creature feature that is challenging and escapist fun.“ Interstellar’s Udaya Sharma added, “Embedded within Ick are universal themes of bravery, self-sacrifice and the eternal human quest to face the unknown. Our goal is to not just captivate our audience but to also invoke deep introspection about confronting the unimaginable, while also being incredible pop entertainment for all ages.“
What did you think of the Ick trailer? Are you hoping to catch this movie on the big screen next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
