Fresh off a four-pic deal with Gallic comicbook publisher Les Humanoides Associes, Paris-based Full House is making "I Am Legion," an English-language vampire movie set during WWII that will be its first project.
Spain's Nacho Cerda ("The Abandoned") directs from a screenplay by Richard Stanley ("Hardware"). Pic will be co-produced by Humanoides partner Pierre Spengler ("Superman).
Revamping a 2006-07 comicbook series, "Legion" pits British Special Ops commandos and Romanian resistance fighters against Nazis, who use a 12-year-old vampire girl to spawn an army of evil.
Spain's Apaches Entertainment co-produces. "Legion" shoots late 2011 in Eastern Europe with English actors. Pic is budgeted at 10 million-12 million ($13.4 million-$16.4 million), said Full House exec Gael Nouaille.
"Our idea's to maximize European financing, including soft money, keep the budget reasonable, but maintain the film's attractiveness for audiences," he added.
Full House was founded by ex-Films Distribution sales head Didar Domehri, plus Nouaille and Laurent Baudens, who remain at Wild Bunch.
"We're working to find a subtle balance between what directors can bring with their universe to the market and the reality that awaits the project based on the audience that really wants to see the film," Domehri said.
The company's first seven-title lineup is significantly backed by Sofica tax-break development funding from Backup Films, No Sugar No Milk and Developimage 3, Baudens said.
Other Full House pics include Spanish-language "Aguas negras," a psychological thriller with supernatural elements, from Alonso Torres and Carlos Moreno ("Dog Eat Dog," "All Your Dead Ones").
"Aguas" is co-produced by Spain's Alta Films and Julian Giraldo at Colombia's RCN/E-Nova.
Full House is finalizing key cast on thriller "The Brotherhood of Tears," the first French-language film from France's Jean-Baptiste Andrea ("Dead End"). Penned with Gael Maury, "Tears" centers on a homeless single father offered money to transport a suitcase.
The company is in post on Wang Xiaoshuai's coming-of-age drama "Eleven Flowers," a French-Chinese co-production, and is involved in omnibus feature "7 Days in Havana," which is shooting.
