DiePhone (universe movie)

diePhone
Original theatrical poster
Directed by	Harold Keach
Written by	Levi Trevino
Based on	Characters by Levi Trevino & Michael J. Bayheimer
Produced by	Michael J. Bayheimer Levi Trevino Kerry Collins
Starring	Amy Norman Orlando Levy Katrina Wilson Miles Huber
Cinematography	Stephan Loveland
Edited by	Helen St. Joy
Music by	Christopher Hoffman
Distributed by	Paramutual Pictures
Release date	May 18, 2012 (2012-05-18) (United States)
Running time	98 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$12,000,000

diePhone is the fourth entry in The Motherboard franchise and signals the return of series creator Levi Trevino.

Plot synopsis

The Motherboard computer, long inactive, is revived by the owner of the world's largest smartphone company just before a major product launch. She infects the phone servers, extending her influence across the globe and turning the phones against their users, ushering in a new era of terror.

Cast

• Orlando Levy as Ted Nielson, Tech Genius and CEO of Eclipse, the world's top seller of smartphones and devices.
• Katrina Wilson as Hillary, an employee at Eclipse who attempts to stop the infestation of computers.
• Spencer McKnight as Eric, a close friend of Hillary's who works at Eclipse with her.
• Joyce Fleming as Kaitlyn, a close friend of Hillary's and daughter of Ted Nielson.
• Miles Huber as Josh, Hillary's boyfriend who becomes possessed by one of the computers and attempts to hunt down Hillary and her friends.
• Amy Norman as Betty / The Motherboard, the ruthless sentient computer that controls other humans to kill.

Production

Troubled Beginnings

With the massive success of Windows 90-Ate (1998), the studio immediately went into production on a sequel, tentatively titled Windows Kill-enium. Michael J. Bayheimer was asked to return in full director/writer capacity; however, due to scheduling conflicts, he wasn't able to dedicate the time to writing the sequel.

Not wanting to miss the chance at the success of the current trend of teenage slasher films, the studio reached out to as many writers and directors as they could in hopes that someone would be available to start production immediately.

In the winter of 1999, the studio had acquired a script called Y2Kill, about a group of college kids who are slowly killed one by one as their personal computers are infected by a virus that causes them to become brainwashed and start killing those around them. The events of the movie would lead up to the start of the century and were attempting to cash in on the worldwide fear of the Y2K bug.

The script, written by an unknown individual named Jason L. Bass, was purchased immediately for a hefty $200,000, the highest the studio had ever paid for a script from a completely unknown. Now, with a script, the studio reached out to those they had previously worked with, hoping to find a director to helm the movie.

With a shrinking timeline to get the movie produced before it became irrelevant, the studio hired indie horror direct Harold Keach who had just made rounds at the Sundance Film Festival for his horror film E1:01 (1998), a paranormal thriller about a man who attempts to solve who is behind a series of murders all while deciphering puzzles and clues left behind.

Now with a director and a script, production was fast-tracked to begin with a release date set for December 10, 1999.

Deadlines and Dropouts

Keach, used to his own independent filmmaking, immediately started casting who he felt was right for the film and pushed to maintain the very tight 4-month production timeline. By March 1999, a group of unknown actors had been cast, a handful of locations had been secured for filming, and most of the crew had been assembled.

Two days into production, the main actress suddenly quit and walked off the set due to exhaustion. Trying to work around her absence, production continued but the following day, the director of photography fell off the camera jib seat while filming the opening establishing shot. His fall fractured three ribs and broke his right leg, making him unable to continue.

Keach attempted to step into the role and continue; however, it was soon clear that production was falling apart. When the studio reviewed the dailies of the first two weeks of production, which was now almost a month behind schedule, they were very unhappy with what little they saw. Realizing they weren't going to make the deadline, Keach asked the studio if there was a way to delay the film's release until February of 2000, saying he would be able to find replacements or handle the jobs himself if he had more time to work on it properly. The studio denied his request and shut production down completely.

Keach was initially blamed for the disastrous production, which led him to focus on his own projects for the next few years. The studio would eventually retcon this blame once his next movie, Wishful Spying (2004), was released to high praise and an Academy Award nomination.

Attempted Restarts

The studio turned back to Michael J. Bayheimer in hopes that he would be able to help them get the film off the ground and going again; however, he was unreachable as he was overseas producing a trilogy of sci-fi fantasy films. His schedule never allowed him to fully return in any creative way.

In 2002, the studio abandoned its attempt to produce the purchased script as is, as its subject matter had become irrelevant in the pop culture world. They attempted to reach out to the original screenplay writer to see if he'd be interested in updating his script, only to find they could no longer contact him.

The film was shelved again and sat in Development Hell for the next 4 years.

In 2006, a script titled "Death Noir" began circulating among production companies, about a futuristic society where technology finally turns against the world and starts attacking its inhabitants. The studio was interested in potentially adapting it to fit its established franchise and entered a bidding war with Universal Pictures in an effort to obtain it. Universal ultimately won the script and buried it, knowing that the studio actively wanted to bring the franchise back with it.

At this point, the studio decided to put development of the movie on hold indefinitely.

Levi Trevino's Return

In 2010, the studio's head of development retired, bringing in a new person who immediately wanted to try to revive the film. His first order of business was reaching out to Levi Trevino in hopes of bringing him back on board.

Trevino, having recently finished producing a series of family-friendly animated movies and television programs, was interested to know that the studio wanted him to return to the series. After a lengthy discussion with the head of Paramutual, who was a big fan of his work, Trevino agreed to come back under the condition that he had full creative control over the film. The studio agreed to his terms and production began.

Reception

The film fared well overall with critics and audience members. Many critics commented that the film "manages to continue the Motherboard franchise's knack for technology-themed horror, by bringing it into the modern era, and making us even more scared of our phones than we already should be."

Audiences loved the return of Katrina Wilson and Amy Norman, and the subtle nods to previous entries in the series. They praised the return of Levi Trevino, noting that "it was his series to begin with and he should never leave it again!"

Trivia

• This film marks the return of series original Amy Norman as the voice of The Motherboard. She also dons her original costume to play a scene of Betty that takes place during the events of Windows 90-Die (1996).
• Despite being one of the survivors at the end, it was agreed that Katrina Wilson's character of Hillary should be under control by The Motherboard in the final act. Levi Trevino wanted the audience to be rooting for her but also feel the gut punch of it seeming like she wasn't going to survive. The reaction worked perfectly as audiences were known to gasp audibly at a handful of screenings. During a mid-credits sequence, a brief scene shows that perhaps her time connected to The Motherboard has more of a lasting effect than she thought. It was this scene, often missed by theater goers, that led to the cold open in the next entry Killer App (2016) where it's revealed she maintained a partial connection that ultimately drove her crazy.

Quotes

• "#YouOnlyDieOnce, bitch!"