Battle: Los Angeles Gets Director

October 2, 2008 Written by Nix

“Battle: Los Angeles” is definitely one of those movies I’m looking forward to, mostly because the idea behind it sounds so good, and there’s a lot of opportunity for sequels if the original does well. Can you imagine, “Battle: Dallas”, or “Battle: New York”? We would get to see the battle from different perspectives, while keeping the overall plot (alien invasion of Earth) in the background. The first movie, “Battle: Los Angeles” is supposed to be about a platoon of Marines fighting alien invaders on the streets of L.A.; they could make another movie about civilians in one city, cops in another, etc. Or hey, how about a specially train group of feds in another city? The possibilities of endless.

In any case, THR reports that a director has been hired for the project, which means it’s definitely moving forward at Columbia Pictures:

Jonathan Liebesman is in negotiations to direct “Battle: Los Angeles,” a sci-fi actioner Neal Moritz and his Original Films are producing for Columbia.

Liebesman beat out several other prospects for the job by making a whiz-bang presentation that showed his specific vision and passion for the project, described as “Black Hawk Down” meets “Independence Day.”

In August, Liebesman went out to locations in Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles, shooting sequences and plates, and adding CGI aliens. He also created a pre-viz alien invasion sequence.

The South African helmer directed “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” and “Darkness Falls.” “Battle” represents a breakthrough of sorts that sees Liebesman jump up several rungs in terms of budgets and prestige.

Wow, talk about wanting the job! I had no idea people would go out and do all the things Liebesman did just for a job interview. When was the last time you did that?

Below: Let’s hope the alien invaders have big giant heads like the ones in “Mars Attacks”. Easier to shoot.