Par faces 'confrontation'

Ellis set to helm 'Cellular'

By DAVE MCNARY

Ellis

Paramount Pictures has tapped director David Richard Ellis ("Final Destination 2") to helm its sci-fi action project "Confrontation."

Pic, to be produced by Mace Neufeld Prods. and Par-based Mutual Film Co., revolves around a hostile alien spacecraft shot down and captured by the U.S. military, setting off a rescue attempt by alien forces and a violent confrontation.

Par has also hired the team of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway for scripting duties. In 2001, Marcum and Holloway made their first deal by selling a pitch for "The Authority," a modern-day Western set in the world of bounty hunters, to Disney with Mutual and Peter Heller to produce.

No start date has been set yet for "Confrontation." Ellis is set to helm New Line's kidnap thriller "Cellular." Kim Basinger and Chris Evans star, with lensing expected soon.

Ellis was second-unit director on "The Matrix Reloaded" and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."