Exhibit A Pictures, the outfit behind new doc The Life And Times Of Paul The Psychic Octopus (a world premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival today), is now stretching its tentacles into zombie land.

Director Alexandre O Philippe [pictured] has revealed that he is already at work on Doc Of The Dead, a thoroughgoing new film that will explore zombies on screen in all their manifestations. Shooting is underway. Philippe has already spoken to Simon Pegg for the film and is shortly to interview zombie guru George Romero on camera.

A shortened broadcast version of Paul The Psychic Octopus screened at the Sheffield Doc/Fest earlier this month. TV deals have already been closed on the film with VTM for Belgium and VPRO for the Netherlands. A Turkish deal is pending and there is also interest from the BBC.

“We are contemplating a mix of distribution and broadcast - and self-distribution as well,” Philippe commented of plans for his movie which tells the astonishing story of the celebrity octopus which correctly guessed all the results of the 2010 World Cup. “It’s a film that plays really well on the big screen,” the director said.

Sadly, Paul The Psychic Octopus died before filming was complete. Speaking from Edinburgh, Philippe (who also directed The People Vs. George Lucas) paid fulsome tribute to his eight legged protagonist. “He was a very cute little guy. We got to spend a lot of time with a lot of different octopuses during the making of this film. The thing about Paul is that there was just something very playful about him, almost like a little spark in his eyes. He was a good looking octopus and he seemed quite clever.”

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