Alcon takes Peli's Chernobyl Nights

Alcon Entertainment has acquired Oren Peli-written and produced horror thriller Chernobyl Nights for North America, Germany, Spain and Japan.

The film will be released by Warner Bros via Alcon’s output deal with the studio and has been slated to open domestically over the Memorial Day holiday weekend (May 25-28), the traditional start of the summer box office season.

Fully financed and sold internationally by FilmNation Entertainment, Chernobyl Nights is produced by Peli (pictured), writer/director of surprise smash Paranormal Activity, with Brian Witten. Visual effects veteran Brad Parker will make his directorial debut on the project and Alcon co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove will executive produce.

An original story by Peli, the film follows a group of friends who, while vacationing in Europe, find themselves stranded in the supposedly abandoned city that once housed the workers from the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

Kosove and Johnson said they were “thrilled to have acquired this unique, thoughtful and very frightening film. The content is all the more terrifying given that it’s based on reality.”

FilmNation CEO Glen Basner added: “We are thrilled to have found such a terrific home for our first fully financed film. Congratulations to Brad, Oren and Brian who have created an incredible movie that will truly terrify audiences.”

The project was brought into Alcon by Dave Fierson, the company’s SVP of business affairs. The deal was negotiated by Scott Parish, Alcon’s COO/CFO, Scott Edel of Loeb & Loeb and Nancy Bruington of O’Melveny & Myers on behalf of Alcon and by Alison Cohen, Linda Lichter and Micah Green on behalf of Oren Peli and FilmNation.