Last week, we let you know that Ethan Hawke had signed on to star in a low-budget, found footage horror film from director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). Although details on the film were sparse at that time, info is beginning to bleed out now that Summit Entertainment has acquired U.S. domestic rights to the pic. According to Deadline, the film will see Hawke take on the role of a journalist who moves his family from corner to corner so as to get the skinny on gruesome murders that he then adapts into books. As the story goes, Hawke and co. move into a house where an entire family was murdered, only to find said footage which lets them in on what really happened.

It’s believed that the project will cost less than $5 million to make with Paranormal Activity and Insidious‘ Jason Blum co-producing alongside Brian Kavanaugh-Jones’ Automatik Entertainment. Given Blum’s track record of turning low-budget horror projects into profit, I’d say there is minimal risk at play here at least from Summit’s perspective. The studio is expected to follow the tried and true formula of releasing the pic, which Derrickson co-wrote with C. Robert Cargill, to limited theaters initially with a commitment for potential wide release to follow.

Several unknowns have been tapped to star in Barry Levinson’s upcoming horror film The Bay (aka Isopod.)  According to Bloody Disgusting, the film stars Will Rogers  as “Alex,” Steven Kunken as “Dr. Abrams,” Kether Donohue as “Donna,” Frank Deal as “John Stockman,” Christopher Denham as “Sam,” and Kristin Connolly as “Stephanie”.  The film is currently shooting from a screenplay written by Michael Wallach which tells the story of a biological disaster that takes place in the Chesapeake Bay on July 4^th, 2011.  An isopod parasite carries mutated diseases and infects fish and human hosts, replacing them with itself.  The true extent of the disaster isn’t known until seven years later, when the truth is revealed through home videos taken by residents of the town.  Paranormal Activity’s producers of Jason Blum, Oren Peli, and Steven Schneider are producing along with Brian Kavanagh Jones.