Germany'spowerful VIP media fund and Berlin Jury president Roland Emmerich have set thefirst four films to go in to production from their newly-formed Reelmachineoutfit.

Emmerichwill direct the first: a UK-based film with an all-British cast called SoulOf The Age. Scripted by John Orloff and exploring the origins ofShakespeare's plays, it is set to roll this autumn.

VIPlast year raised over $430m for film investment from private German investors,forming Reelmachine to produce projects previously developed by Emmerich.

TheJury president, whose last film The Day After Tomorrow grossed$542m worldwide, also said that theaction film 10,000 B.C., which he has been developing for the last 15years, would probably be his next for Reelmachine after Soul Of The Agewraps.

Reelmachineis managed by Andreas Schmid, CEO of VIP, and Ossie von Richthofen, formermanaging director of GAP Films. VIP has a long-standing relationship with LosAngeles-based Ascendant Pictures, though recently ceased to have Ascendantdouble up as its US representative.

Thetwo other upcoming projects from Reelmachine/Emmerich are the $15m Girl NextDoor about female sex slaves brought across the border from Mexico, whichis being written by Motorcycle Diaries author Jose Rivera. SummerStorm's Marco Kreuzpaintner is set to direct. The drama Nigeria,from a screenplay by The Patriot composer Harald Klose, rounds out theslate.

TheReelmachine partners declined to reveal budget size for all four pictures,although Emmerich indicated that 10,000 B.C., described as "JurassicPark meets [previous Emmerich blockbuster] Stargate" by vonRichthofen, would be much bigger than the other three projects. It is set toshoot on location in Namibia and possibly Turkey, with visual effects produced bythe UK's Framestore (Walking With Dinosaurs).

Said49-year-old Emmerich: "The plan is to make films in a different way fromwhat I have done in the past. The Day After Tomorrow was the first stepwhere there was a film with a message. I have become older and want to do otherthings."

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