Panzer 88 Concept Art and Plot Details

The L.A. Times Blog is reporting that Gary Kurtz (Star Wars producer) is preparing a new independent WWII horror film called Panzer 88.

The plot follows the five-man German crew of the Ilsa — a King Tiger, the biggest tank of its day — on a mission to the frigid and fearsome Russian border, where they tread into an ancient mystery by stirring a powerful entity.

Kurtz said:

“It’s a good, good project, you haven’t seen anything like it for a while. It’s a visceral, reality-based story with horror overtones, and the idea is to have be like the best of the graphic novels these days.”

The original screenplay was written by Aaron Mason and James Cowan; they share the writing credit with Peter Briggs (Hellboy), who will direct.

Briggs said:

“I’d already written a paranormal World War II sequence in the opening of “Hellboy”. Tonally, ‘Panzer 88′ is a tad different from that. Our military aspects are more realistic, and mostly akin to the claustrophobic action and tension of “Das Boot”. We’re aiming to do for the tank genre what “Hunt For Red October” and “Crimson Tide” did for submarine flicks. Only, with a supernatural twist. We’re upping the ante with visuals, equipment, and scenes that have never been seen in a World War II milieu. In retrospect, it’s strange nobody’s thought to do this in quite this way before…”

Mason explains their desire to keep it authentic:

“The story features German protagonists on the Eastern Front of Russia in October 1944, and Peter and myself labored to anchor the story in the real history of the time, right down to charting actual troop movements. The few tank movies that are out there, like “Kelly’s Heroes” or “The Battle of the Bulge”, are fairly slow affairs, which is the furthest thing from Panzer, which shifts at breakneck speed.”

The independent production begins shooting this winter on a $20 million budget.

What do you think about the concept art? Looking forward to Panzer 88?

Panzer 88 Concept Art