So here's how the pitch meeting probably went:
"So we're going to do a thriller, kind of like Phone Booth, but with an ATM machine. We're going to get the Buried writer on board and some young up-and-coming talent to play three saps who get tormented by a faceless killer who traps them in one of those stand-alone bank machine buildings in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night."
"Okay, so far so good."
"Except they're not trapped. Like the doors are unlocked and they can leave any time."
"Wait so... what?"
"Don't worry about it, okay? They're just like, in there. And the killer, see, he has all these ATM schematics that we'll superimpose over the opening credits, Se7en-style, to show that he meticulously masterminded this whole thing."
"Alright I'm listening."
"Except he doesn't bring a weapon of any kind with him. Or tools. Like, he's planning on messing with the heat 'cause it's really cold out and he has to like clang around in the back there to turn the heat off and also flood the place--cause it's waterproof. He just gets the tools out of their car, see."
"So he has their car keys?"
"Oh no, they have the keys in there with them. They don't make a break for the car while he's doing other stuff though, because they parked really far away for some reason."
"I'm starting to see the logic of this. And of course they don't have phones in there."
"Why would they? It's 2012, nobody has a cell phone."
"Alright, I'm into this. And this killer--he's some disgruntled guy, right? Like we find out that our heroes actually wronged him somehow so what's happening to them is karma? Twist ending, love it."
"Oh no, he's a total rando who goes around trapping people in ATM booths and the like because he's really bent out of shape about living in a storage container."
"SOLD."
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