Movie Trailer: Sharlto Copley's Directorial Debut Spoon

Prior to his breakout as an actor in District 9, Sharlto Copley was pursuing a career intended to be located behind the camera rather than in front of it. He worked behind the scenes on Alive in Joburg and District 9 (and directed himself as D9's Wikus in a brief comedy piece) and has been working on his directorial debut for some time with co-director and production partner Simon Hansen. Called Spoon, the film is either complete or approaching completion, and there is a short teaser to announce the project to the public.

The teaser, via Twitch, is all-too brief, but it is wonderful for focusing on Rutger Hauer, who plays one of the film's two primary characters.

Spoon is "a thriller with supernatural overtones about a man with a medical condition that causes him to black out during moments of extreme stress and leads him to make a remarkable discovery about himself." It stars Darren Boyd (Green Wing, Smack the Pony) as main character Daniel Spoon, with Rutger Hauer as his father Victor.

There's not enough here to get more than a vague impression of what the film might be like, but the immediate vibe that I pick up is second-stage Cronenberg — some of that is the TV set frame, but overall this reminds me of Scanners and Videodrome more than anything else. Copley, Hansen and Hauer are all enough to pique my interest, but if that first impression turns out to be correct then I'll be thrilled. Regardless, Copley is an obvious talent, so there's more than enough reason to watch out for Spoon.

The film's official website is up and running, but there's not much to see at the moment. Keep an eye on SpoonTheMovie.com for future updates.