Filmmaker Roland Emmerich's 'The Zone' shut down

LOS ANGELES  – The newly popular 'found footage' movie genre has 'found' its first victim.

"The Zone," the low-budget found-footage sci-fi movie that filmmaker Roland Emmerich was to start shooting next week, has been shut down.

"This is not a project (Emmerich) is pursuing at this time," was the comment issued from the director's camp.

The genre's conceit is that the footage purports to be genuine reels, tapes or files found after the person operating the camera expires or disappears.

Alien invasion flick "Cloverfield" kicked off the recent trend, which also encompasses the hugely successful "Paranormal Activity" movies and "The Blair Witch Project" 11 years ago.

"Zone" was to have been a radical change of pace for Emmerich, the filmmaker behind such films as "Independence Day," "10,000 BC" and "2012."

On "Zone," Emmerich was going to work with a budget of $5 million instead of his usual blockbuster $100 million-plus figure.

An April release was being targeted by Columbia Pictures, which was to acquire "Zone" for distribution.

No plot details were known, but "Zone," which revolved around an alien invasion, was to have been improv-based and cast with relative unknowns.

The production had been in rehearsals with actors Peter Mackenzie and Brandon Scott, who were to have played a journalist and a cameraman, respectively.

Members of the production are at a loss as to why the film had its plug pulled, though rumors abound.

Two factors may be in play: One, the found-footage trope is becoming overplayed. Two, "Zone" would have been released a scant weeks after another found-footage sci-fi movie.

The genre has struck a chord with a generation of moviegoers who have grown up around the ubiquity of handheld cameras and YouTube.

From a production stand-point, the genre's strengths were that it could be done more cheaply. It could also connect with audiences on a personal level.

But in recent weeks, as "Paranormal Activity 2" has cruised past the $140 million mark at the global box office, the pipeline for these movies has filled very quickly.

The feature film "Monsters," shot in a documentary style, opened in the U.S. two weeks ago. This Friday sees the release of "Skyline," which, while not a found footage movie, is low-budget science fiction feature.

Last month, Warners Bros. film studio picked up the found footage script "Dark Moon" to develop for the big screen.

This is where the second factor comes in.

This past weekend, film distributor The Weinstein Co. announced that it had picked up "Apollo 18," a found footage project it plans to release in March. That placed it just ahead of "Zone's" release date.

In the staring contest between the two films, it appears Emmerich's blinked first.