Carl Erik Rinsch is probably best-known as the director who almost directed Ridley Scott's upcoming Alien prequel. The directorial duty was eventually given to Ridley Scott, but Rinsch (Scott's protégé) has been busy attaching himself to various other projects ever since. One such project is a series called Parallel Lines by Philips: the company hired five directors to create their own short films, each tackling a different genre while sharing the same lines of dialogue.

Rinsch's entry is called The Gift, a sci-fi-action chase movie set in Russia. The short has received deafening buzz around the Internet in the past couple of days, and it appears studios have taken notice as well. A bidding war for The Gift broke out yesterday between some big name studios, including Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox.

Many observers (including Heat Vision) assumed the studios were looking to expand the story of The Gift into a feature production. Now, /Film reports the bidding war is actually over a different project entirely - a full-length feature called Small. According to /Film's sources, The Gift was designed all along as a prequel for Small, and the latter story picks up where the short film left off.

Watch the The Gift for yourself below:

/Film has also scored some exclusive concept art and photos, so head their way and check those out if you're interested - just click the image below for the full gallery:

Carl Rinsch's Small - concept art

Parallels (no pun intended) are being drawn all over the place between Rinsch's work and Neill Blomkamp's District 9, due to their low-budget styles that take full advantage of available technology. If you'll allow an SAT analogy, Small : District 9 as The Gift : Alive in Joburg. Personally, I see more than a hint of influence from Alex Proyas' I, Robot mixed in with the Bourne-style settings, and I think Small has a great chance to be a breath of fresh air into the sci-fi world.

As I mentioned before, Rinsch has been circling a couple of big projects since he was passed over for the Alien prequel. In December, he was in talks to direct the remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and he's also been attached to direct Keanu Reeves in the historical epic 47 Ronin.

What do you think about The Gift? Do you think Small deserves a shot at the box office? Are you excited for the Rinsch's big screen debut, whatever it may be?

Source: Heat Vision, /Film