There's a reason we've never gone back to the moon...

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The Weinstein company have picked up a super-secret alien movie produced by Timur Bekmambetov.

As announced by Deadline, Bekmambetov, the director of Nightwatch and Wanted, is producing Apollo 18, a found-footage sci-fi thriller that takes its name from a cancelled shuttle mission.

This extraterrestrial thriller has crept into production extremely quietly, and will apparently be released in US cinemas on March 4 2011. The stealthy sci-fi has obviously taken the lead from Cloverfield, which also snuck in under the radar.

The release date gives Apollo 18 the chance to get in ahead of the glut of found-footage sci-fiers due out next year, including Super 8, and Oren (Paranormal Activity) Peli's Area 51.

The premise, and the based-on-fact angle, are certainly intriguing, and we'll be keeping a close eye on this one.

Bekmambetov's next directing gig will be Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, which is set for release in 2012.

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http://www.apollo18movie.net/ (Make sure your speakers are on)

With the recent discovery of Russian film footage that suggests that America’s Apollo 18 space mission actually did occur, despite being canceled by President Nixon in the early 1970s, The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that it has acquired the rights to a provocative new film project, titled Apollo 18. To be directed by Trevor Cawood from a screenplay by Brian Miller, the documentary-style sci-fi thriller will be produced by Russian filmmaker Timur Behmambetov (Wanted, 9, The Darkest Hour) and Michele Wolkoff, president of development for Bekmambetov Projects, Ltd. Production has been fast-tracked to begin in December, with a wide release planned for March 4.

A quintessential Cold War story, Apollo 18 casts light on the covert and undocumented lunar mission that officially “never happened.” Bekmambetov, hired by Russia to shoot a documentary about the Russian space station, recently came across footage in its space archives that bolsters the idea that an Apollo 18 mission did, in fact, take place, and reveals startling evidence of extraterrestrial life forms. This actual footage will be part of Apollo 18, a paranormal thriller that will interpolate fact and fiction.

Screenwriter Brian Miller came to the project after winning the inaugural Astana International Action Film Festival screenplay competition in Kazakhstan, founded by Bekmambetov.

“We first became aware of Timur after his 2004 film Night Watch,” stated Harvey Weinstein. “Recently he came to us with this never-before-seen footage, apparently of the Apollo 18 space mission, and, as filmmakers, we were absolutely compelled to bring it to the screen for audiences to judge for themselves.”