Yesterday Magnet Releasing (Magnolia’s genre arm) announced that they picked up Monsters mere hours afters its SXSW premiere by fighting off other distributors and showing a more attractive offer. (Sorry.)

The film premiered in the SX Fantastic section of the fest as programmed by Fantastic Fest’s Tim League, and is the directorial debut of one Gareth Edward. Edward is a BAFTA award-winning and EMMY nominated visual effects artist who recently directed the Attila the Hun drama for the BBC, doing all 250 visual effects himself.  He wrote, shot and directed Monsters. It played to a packed house and attendees have seemingly had nothing but good things to say.

The official synopsis:

Six years ago previously, a NASA probe returning to earth with samples of an alien life form, crashed over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear, and half of Mexico was quarantined as an INFECTED ZONE. Today, the American and Mexican military still struggle to contain “the creatures”…  The story begins when a US journalist agrees to escort a shaken American tourist through the infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.

Magnolia SVP Tom Quinn commented: “We were blown away by MONSTERS – I can’t think of a more exciting addition to the Magnet slate. Gareth Edwards is an extraordinary talent and we’re thrilled to bring his vision to American audiences.
 
Check out a clip of the film on the official site!

Along with Centurion this is the second SXSW entry that Magnet has acquired. Expect to hear news about a possible theatrical and VOD release of the film soon.