"Skyline" may be one of the more high-profile movies at Comic-Con in San Diego with a large graphic plastering the side of the Marriott hotel next to the convention center.
But while Universal will distrib the film for its scheduled Nov. 12 release, the alien-invasion thriller represents the latest independently produced pic to be treated like yet another tentpole.
Visual effects vets Greg and Colin Strause, whose shop Hydraulx has worked on everything from "Avatar" to "The Day After Tomorrow," and Sony's upcoming "Battle: Los Angeles," produced the film on their own, outside of the studio system, with the support of Relativity Media.
They own the full rights to the film because of that.
"Skyline" will be released through Relativity's Rogue banner.
The brothers were "lamenting the difficulty of making a movie these days," so they decided to make their own, Greg Strause said.
The Brothers Strause also helmed "AVPR: Aliens vs Predator - Requiem" and "Mange."
The two used the Con on Thursday to start unveiling the first visuals from "Skyline," which have been under wraps until now.
The film looks like a big-budget actioner, but the Strause brothers stressed that the look was accomplished at only a fraction of the price that a typical studio production would have spent, largely because of advancements in technology and camera packages.
That's because the brothers already owned the equipment, had the crew double or quadruple up on duties and lensed the thriller inside their apartments and condo buildings.
"We did the whole movie with under 20 people," Colin Strause said.
The brothers shot a teaser in December and produced the full film over the next 11 months. Cast includes Eric Balfour, Donald Faison, Scottie Thompson and Brittany Daniel.
Even with months still to go before the film bows, "We like this new way of doing things and we re going to stick with it," said Greg Strause.
"We own the movie," he added. "If you guys hate it it's our fault."
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