Cannes might be quietening down but Screenbase is still buzzing with the many new projects that have found its way into it.

Monsters director Gareth Edwards has drafted in Rupert Preston and Monsters lead actor Scoot McNairy to executive produce the sequel to the successful indie sci-fi. However, Edwards won’t be directing Monsters 2; instead Brent Bonacorso and Jesse Atlas will share this duty. Rory Aitken and Ben Pugh are producing for Vertigo Films and Protagonist Pictures has acquired worldwide sales rights. The story will continue from the original, focusing on a teacher who attempts to find and rescue his brother who has been long lost in the infected zone. The budget will be similarly low at under $5m. A tentative release date has been set for late 2012.

A screenwriter who gets caught up in his friend’s dog-kidnapping plot is at the centre of Seven Psychopaths. Produced by UK’s Blueprint Pictures and US’ Annapurna Pictures, the black comedy has attached to star Mickey Rourke, Collin Farrel, Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken. Martin McDonagh will direct from his own screenplay. Film4 provided financial backing, and HanWay Films is handling international sales. Thus far the film has been sold to Australia (Hopscotch Productions), Canada (Alliance Films), France (Wild Side), Russia (Carmen Films) and the UK (Momentum Pictures).

Matthew Butler is gearing up for his Scotland shoot of The Curse Of The Buxom Strumpet at the end of this year. The comedy horror follows inhabitants of a small seaside town, who are struck down with a deadly illness. Butler co-wrote the script with Tori Heart, based on the former’s short film E’gad Zombies. The pair also jointly produces for Fizz and Ginger. Margaret Matheson acts as executive producer. The $3m project will star Mark Williams, Judi Dench, Gillian Anderson and Ian McKellen.

Summer (August) will see the start of Laura Schroeder’s Schatzritter, with Clemens Schick, Alexandra Neldel and Luc Feit headlining the cast. Written by Martin Dolejs and Stefan Schaller the fantasy film follows a gang of child treasure hunters who fight to save a castle from the dark Duc de Berry. The $4m German-Luxembourg co-production is jointly produced by NEOS Film, Bavaria Film Partners, Lucil Film and Screenvest.