‘xxx 4’ & ‘brightburn’ outfit the h collective taps christine crokos to direct horror-thriller ‘the beast’

EXCLUSIVE: The H Collective, the LA production outfit which is teaming up with Vin Diesel to produce the next installment in the _xXx_ franchise, has set rising filmmaker Christine Crokos

(_Pimp_) to direct their upcoming elevated horror-thriller _The Beast_. The company landed Aaron W Sala’s 2018 Blacklist (2018) script in a six-figure deal last year. The story follows a

woman who flees an abusive husband only to find herself the sole survivor of a plane crash. Stranded in the South Pacific on a deserted island, she must also grapple with horrors that tap

into her worst nightmares while fighting off a creature of unknown origins. The H Collective, which has Sony sci-fi-horror _Brightburn_ coming out in May, will produce and finance _The

Beast_ and is eyeing a fall 2019 shoot. Crokos previously wrote, directed and produced _Pimp_ starring Keke Palmer and executive produced by Lee Daniels. She made her directorial debut with

_Bang-Bang Wedding!_ after graduating from USC Film School. WATCH ON DEADLINE As we revealed on Tuesday, the filmmaker will also write, direct and produce (with Argent Pictures) a bio-pic of

U.S. women’s soccer star Hope Solo, which will circle around the 2015 Women’s World Cup win against Japan. That project will come after _The Beast_. “The H Collective continues to seek-out

genre bending movies that offer up the unexpected such as _Brightburn,_ which Sony is releasing on May 24th. I haven’t been this excited about a creature movie since working on

_Cloverfield_”, said The H Collective’s President of Production Sherryl Clark. She continued, “I am beyond thrilled that our company is committing to the 4% challenge to hire more female

directors. I fell in love with Christine after seeing her fierce direction of KeKe Palmer in _Pimp_. She has the perfect combination of skills to tackle this, raw, crowd-pleasing and

emotional film.” Crokos added, “_The Beast_ is a very unique flip of how we see the world of domestic violence. It’s a fresh and bold lensing on female empowerment. It’s a ferocious fight

for survival, where one must be brave enough to dive into a terrifying isolated world and come out the other side transformed.” President of Production Clark and Kenneth Huang are producing

for The H Collective with CEO Nic Crawley and Kent Huang serving as executive producers. Elizabeth Banks stars in The H Collective and James Gunn‘s upcoming feature _Brightburn_, which Sony

will release on May 24. Crokos is represented by Verve and Levin / Brown Management.