Action-Horror DEAD MINE and Ti West's THE SIDE EFFECT Start to Sell Worldwide

Action-horror flick Dead Mine, directed by Steven Sheil, and horror-science fiction picture The Side Effect, written and directed by Ti West, have both begun closing deals at the European Film Market, according to Variety.

Dead Mine (pictured) follows an amateur treasure hunter as he leads a group "deep into the Indonesian jungle" on the hunt for a hidden cache of gold, per a description by Film Biz Asia. "Once they find themselves trapped in what is seemingly an abandoned WWII Japanese bunker they face the terrifying reality that the only way out is further in." Sam Hazeldine and Joe Taslim (The Raid) star, along with Miki Mizuno (Guilty of Romance) and Ario Bayu (The Forbidden Door).

The film has completed production, and distribution deals have now been made with eOne for the UK, Canada, France, German-speaking Benelux, Scandinavia and South Africa. The premise, cast, and director make it an attractive package, ensuring the film will get some festival play and perhaps some kind of U.S. deal.

Meanwhile, pre-production has begun for the long-gestating The Side Effect, which will star Liv Tyler and "focuses on pharmaceutical medicines that are tested in outer space." Deals have been made with various distributors for the UK, Australia, Germany, China, India, Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East. With Tyler as a headliner and Ti West's track record in producing good genre pictures on modest budgets, it seems quite likely to secure distribution stateside as well. The only point of confusion might be the title, which is similar to a Steven Soderbergh project, also pharmaceutically-themed, called Side Effect at one point before being retitled The Bitter Pill

Full disclosure: The deals for both films were made by Celluloid Nightmares, which is a partnership with Paris-based Celluloid Dreams and Los Angeles-based XYZ Films; ScreenAnarchy's Todd Brown is a partner in XYZ Films.