It's only just made its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, but Eli Roth's The Green Inferno - the first film he's directed in six years - has already earned itself a sequel. Roth will produce and "present" Beyond The Green Inferno, again in cahoots with Worldview Entertainment, with his recent Aftershock collaborator Nicholas Lopez stepping in to direct.
Roth's film sees a group of student activists head deep into the Peruvian jungle and undergo a cannibal holocaust at the hands of a hungry indigent tribe. Specific details of the sequel are secret for now, but, says Lopez, "Our plan is in the tradition of Aliens, where the creative team went bigger, darker and scarier into the unknown. After writing and scouting all over Peru we realized that The Green Inferno had an expansive universe and that we would love to visit it again and go deeper into the jungle. Eli has been an amazing creative collaborator and has set the groundwork for an entire universe of stories we’re both incredibly excited to tell."
"Filming deep in the Amazon was a fascinating, life-changing experience," says Roth, "and we quickly learned there’s an entire world of stories, legends, myths and monsters in that jungle. It’s endless. I’m thrilled to hand the directing reins to Nicolas Lopez, who has been a key part of my creative team from the beginning of this project and I know will make an incredible film. We want to take the story to an even darker and scarier place on all levels."
Roth says shooting will start next spring in Chile and Peru, "when the rainy season ends and it’s safe enough for us to return with another ‘adventurous’ filmmaking team". The first Green Inferno has no release dates yet outside the festival circuit.