When They Were Lost was announced by its studio that it was greenlit for filming the race was on to see who would be starring in it. The movie which will be directed by acclaimed award winning filmmaker, Randy Dies and will be filming in Michigan this coming August. Dies and the other producers were under pressure to find their star and co-star since they needed filming to start in August. Well we are lost no more, the studio has found its lost boys.
This past week it was announced that the studio retained two powerhouse actors for its leading roles, Actor Idris Veliu who will star and Actor Ian James who is set to co-star in the upcoming feature film. Luckily for Dies both Veliu and James will just be coming off filming the huge horror film The Dead Place and doing their panels at the Rocky Mountain Horror Nightmares Horror Convention, so the timing was right.
We hear from insiders that the thriller film follows a college film crew whose producer Brian, played by Veliu and his fellow crew member and best friend Jason, played by James, find themselves filming for their college film project in an abandoned insane asylum and what happens next is unexpected.
Idris Veliu, is one of Hollywood’s most popular film stars of his generation currently in the film industry. He has previously appeared in several acclaimed international films and TV Shows, including “The Dead Place,” “Happy Hours,” “Power” and “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens.” He is currently filming The Dead Place in which he stars in, when it was announced he will be starring in They Were Lost. The Dead Place has garnered huge interest among the horror community the film includes David Howard Thornton (Art the Clown) from the Terrifier franchise and Beatrice Boepple who played Freddy Krueger’s mother in the Friday the Thirteenth franchise, The film has already garnered a cult following with fans already tattooing the films name on themselves to them traveling to the filming location to catch a look at the cast. Recently, Nike released a line of sneakers for his new movie, The Dead Place, bearing Veliu’s signature and his character’s likeness on them.
Veliu’s talent and versatility as an actor have garnered him interest from numerous Hollywood producers, including Steven Spielberg and Guy Ritchie. He most recently auditioned to play opposite Theo James in an upcoming TV Project. Veliu is a powerhouse among actors of his generation; when he was not playing basketball on the set of Power with rapper 50 cent or hanging with rapper Fettywap, you can find him walking the red carpets at the Emmy Awards, LAFW, NYFW and Miami Vogue Fashion Week. This past NYFW he walked the runway for Vogue Designer Malan Breton and he’s a published model in Harper’s Bazaar and Elle Magazines. Veliu has also had a campaign with designer Giorgio Armani. Currently, he is the global face of the couture fashion line NOA Collective and the international face of Particle’s Cologne, Gravite. Veliu has also walked the runway at some of the countries most popular runway shows including DCFW, AZFW and NYFW. He has also been on the cover of USMAG.
Ian James, is a familiar face to audiences he appears in one of the most popular TV series franchise’s, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. The TV franchise’s most recent series on HBO. Original Sin is in its first season and has only released 10 episodes for its freshman run and James has appeared in four episodes of the first season. He has also made appearances in Sex Lives of College Girls and The Time Traveler’s Wife. He has also walked the runways at NYFW several times. James also is the brand representative for Pakayak. James has appeared in the feature film Song of Myself, playing the lead role of Leo in the movie. He has also appeared as the love interest in well-known recording artist, Ashely Kutcher’s music video Sleepy. Kutcher, a popular recording artist, routinely has had sold-out concerts in NY and LA. She has a large fan base, her music videos routinely get over 3 million views. James himself, has a reputation for delivering powerful and nuanced performances, and his inclusion in the cast of “They Were Lost” is sure to be a major draw for audiences.
The two have been given the moniker “The Lost Boys” by their fans, a nod to the film’s title. The film has garnered much interest since the studio released their names and fans are wondering how the two will relate to each other as on screen friends, since in their current movie The Dead Place they play adversaries.
Randy Dies, the award winning director of the film, is no stranger to exploring themes of survival and resilience in his films. His previous works, including the critically acclaimed “Paradise Lodge”, which has explored similar themes and have earned him widespread praise for his ability to capture the human experience with such authenticity and nuance. Dies is a Michigander and the award winning director. He decided against placing his studio in Hollywood and instead in putting its headquarters in the Detroit area. He has been attracting top well-known talent to Michigan and has filmed most of his movies in the state. Veliu and James are his most well-known actor acquisitions he has brought to the area. They will definitely draw attention to the Detroit area when filming commences in August.
We hear that Dies followed Veliu’s career for sometime now and he wanted to work with him badly. However, the script was originally set for a group of older independent film makers doing the film instead of a group of younger college freshman students doing a student film for their film class. Dies called the film’s award winning screenwriter Dale Hills and the two decided to change the script to suit Veliu’s age range, to give them a stronger pitch to Veliu. Dies said “ I have wanted to work with Veliu for sometime now, I have been watching his career skyrocket and knew I needed to get him to do this film while I could afford him.” Dies and Hills then pitched the new script to Veliu’s Manager, Craig Rogalski with CK Talent, who saw the potential for Veliu to bring the leading character, Brian to life. Dies and Hills also wanted James to co-star in the role of Jason, Brian’s best friend and it so happened that Veliu’s Manager was James’s as well. Both actors were keen on the project and the deal was finalized with the studio. Dies has said “I showed a general headshot photo of James to several people and they immediately recognized him from Pretty Little Liars, so I knew I had my co-star at that point.”
“They Were Lost” promises to be a gripping and emotional film that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats from start to finish. With a talented cast and a director who knows how to capture the essence of the human experience, this is a film that is sure to resonate with audiences around the world. The release date for the movie has not been announced yet, but fans of Veliu and James can look forward to seeing them in action in this highly anticipated film soon.
