An Eye-Opener in Morocco...Lensing to Begin on Wes Craven's THE HILLS HAVE EYES.

LOS ANGELES -- Fox Searchlight Pictures announced that principal photography will begin June 27 in Morocco on THE HILLS HAVE EYES. A new take on Wes Craven's 1977 film of the same name, THE HILLS HAVE EYES will be directed by award-winning French filmmaker Alexandre Aja from a screenplay he penned with Gregory Levasseur. The film will be produced by Craven, Peter Locke, who produced the original THE HILLS HAVE EYES, and long-time Craven producing partner Marianne Maddalena, who produced Craven's blockbuster SCREAM series amongst many others.

The film's cast will be led by Aaron Stanford (TADPOLE, X2), Ted Levine ("Monk," THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, WONDERLAND), Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Kathleen Quinlan (APOLLO 13, BREAKDOWN), Vinessa Shaw (MELINDA AND MELINDA, 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS), Emilie de Ravin ("Lost," "Roswell"), Dan Byrd (A CINDERELLA STORY, "Salem's Lot") and Robert Joy (LAND OF THE DEAD, PRETTY PERSUASION).

A family road trip goes terrifyingly awry when the travelers become stranded in a government atomic zone. Miles from nowhere, the Carters soon realize the seemingly uninhabited wasteland is actually the breeding ground of a blood-thirsty mutant family...and they are the prey.

When Wes Craven's original THE HILLS HAVE EYES was released in 1977, it quickly became a cult classic. The film is considered to be one of the finest to date in Craven's 40-year career, which also includes such blockbuster hits as the SCREAM series and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.

Alexandre Aja was nominated for the prestigious Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm for his first film, the short entitled OVER THE RAINBOW. THE HILLS HAVE EYES once again partners him with screenwriter Gregory Levasseur with whom he co-wrote the feature film HAUTE TENSION, which earned accolades at film festivals worldwide for best picture and netted Aja several nominations and an award for Best Director. Aja and Levasseur also partnered on the feature films FURIA and ENTRE CHIENS ET LOUPS.

THE HILLS HAVE EYES will be shot by Director of Photography Maxime Alexandre, who previously collaborated with Aja on HAUTE TENSION, and whose credits also include THE LAST DROP and THE DEFENDER. It was designed by Production Designer Joseph Nemec, who counts among his many action feature credits TWISTER and PATRIOT GAMES.

Lawrence Grey, Vice President of Production for Fox Searchlight, and Creative Executive Jeffrey Arkus will oversee the project for Searchlight.

Fox Searchlight Pictures is a filmmaker-oriented company that focuses on distinctive films helmed by world-class auteurs and exciting newcomers. It has its own marketing and distribution operations and its films are distributed internationally by Twentieth Century Fox. Fox Searchlight Pictures is a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group.