Into the Darkness (2011 film)

Into the Darkness
promotional poster
Produced by	Paul Moser Brad Thornton
Written by	Jade Moser Paul Moser
Starring	Mischa Barton John Schneider Kiowa Gordon Wolfgang Weber Anna Enger Dalal Bruchmann Russ Russo Louis Mandylor
Music by	Rob Graves Jasen Rauch
Cinematography	Nate Tieman
Edited by	Robert Williams
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$2 million

Into the Darkness was a proposed American film which never came to fruition. The film began principal photography in May 2010. The film stars Mischa Barton, Kiowa Gordon, Anna Enger, Wolfgang Weber, Dalal Bruchmann, Russ Russo, and newcomer Ronnie Patel. The promotional trailer for the film was shot in early August 2009 and is set to debut in October 2009. The film received a lot of press in its early stages of development. In December 2011, a casting call scheduled for March 2012 was released.

A group of friends descend upon a remote wilderness area in celebration of Ridge and Allie's return after a year spent out West. Their decision to embark on a short exploration of a nearby cave turns into a horrific struggle for survival.

Originally, Into the Darkness was a short story developed by the writers in January 2009 and was put on hold due to collaboration of their schedules. After surprising and sudden interest in the story from producers in the southeast, the writers decided to further develop their short story into an independent film. The concept for the film was developed in March 2009 and a first edition of the screenplay was ready by May. From there, the writers began talking with a small production company based out of Kentucky that took interest in the film. Instead, the writers formed a new production company called Moser Productions LLC. Later, a second production company, Chain Gang Films came on board as an associate company to help produce the film. Before production of the trailer, it was announced that Clint Brandel would direct the film. The promotional trailer for Into the Darkness was set to film in early August. Due to a conflict in schedule with the production of the Miss Universe 2009 pageant, Clint Brandel was unable to direct the trailer. In his place, a new director to the film industry and recent Watkin's film school graduate, Dustin Masters directed the trailer instead. The production companies are in talks with a number of directors and seek to start principal photography in May 2010.

Casting for Into the Darkness began in June 2009, originally in association with the small production company that first took interest in the film. An Open Call was held in the small town of McMinnville, Tennessee, one of the film's filming locations, in which talent flew across country and some drove several hours to attend. Later, after the writers developed their own company, Moser Productions re-released the breakdown and opened the casting to talent in Los Angeles, New York City, and the Southeast. After much debate, they finally found the perfect cast. Wolfgang Weber, a new and rising star out of Los Angeles whose credits include Nip/Tuck and CSI: Miami, was chosen to play the role of Ridge, Kiowa Gordon, a talented young actor who plays Embry Call in Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse, was chosen to play the role of Brad, Anna Enger, a talented actress from Atlanta and whose recent work includes indie film Savage and Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva, was chosen to play Summer, and Dalal Bruchmann, a beautiful Austrian film and television actress who's making her debut in the United States, was chosen to play Katelyn. Rounding out the cast is Russ Russo, a remarkable actor out of New York City and now Los Angeles with several films and television series under his belt, was chosen to play the role of Wes, Ronnie Patel, a newcomer out of Alabama who's new to the entertainment industry, is making his feature film debut as Eli, and Darian O'Rear, a young eight-year-old actress out of Atlanta whose credits include Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson, plays the role of Mary Ann. A young, new actress from Tennessee, Candace Keaton, known for national news publicity of the 2005 Pamela Rogers Turner controversy, makes her debut on the screen as tourist, Candi. Famous world champion freestyle kayaker and owner of Jackson Kayak, Eric "EJ" Jackson, is also signed on to film. Louis Mandylor of My Big Fat Greek Wedding will be playing the role of Mel. Brad Kaplan of The Cursed, plays the supporting role of Allie's father in the movie's trailer scene with Russ Russo. The producers are looking to cast the remaining roles, including the principal roles of J.T. and Stacy and supporting roles, Gavin and Summer, after the trailer's debut in October.