The network that brought you the TV-movie delights of Dinocroc, Piranhaconda, and Knights Of Bloodsteel is getting into the feature film business, with Syfy announcing today the formation of a new division, Syfy Films. The new group’s goal—besides continuing the network’s years-long vendetta against the letters “c” and “i”—is to produce theatrically released movies that will later make their way to the home channel, the better to delight the inebriated and take the sting out of bored insomniacs’ bleary-eyed vigils.
First up on the slate: the syence fyction thriller 400 Days, set to hit theaters on January 12, 2016. Settling somewhere in the field of psychological horror, the film will focus on four astronauts undergoing prolonged experiments in human isolation. Trash-fans worried that Syfy is going all thoughtful and introspective to impress the theater-going audiences, though, should feel reassured when they get a look at the movie’s cast and crew: The casting sheet reads like a Syfy Original with a slightly higher budget, complete with TV actors (Brandon Routh and Tom Cavanaugh, recently of The CW’s superhero shows) and an inexplicable appearance from Dane Cook. Add in a neophyte director—Matt Osterman—and the star of Syfy’s recently cancelled Defiance, and connoisseurs of ice spiders, dragon fighters, and shark-laden torandoes should feel right at home.