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Robbie Amell Puts a Twist on the Superhero Genre With Sci-Fi Film Code 8

“Code 8” was never just supposed to live on its own.

Robbie Amell calls what happened after the short film’s initial release to an intimate New York convention crowd a “perfect storm” of sorts — and for good reason. Amell, along with cousin and fellow Arrowverse legend Stephen Amell, went the crowdfunding route to help turn the short from passion project to feature film. Before they knew it, a target of $200,000 quickly surpassed the $1 million dollar mark.

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“We front-paged Reddit, which was a big deal, and people really dug the short film,” he told AskMen. “We just kind of caught fire. We never in a million years thought we would raise that kind of money on Indiegogo, and it gave us the opportunity to make a much bigger movie than we expected.”

“Code 8” creates a futuristic dystopia where 4 percent of the world is gifted with these extraordinary, elemental-driven powers. Unfortunately, those deemed average take issue with the power-enabled, forcing them into lives of poverty and rubble without a real place to turn. Amell takes the lead as Connor, a level 5 electric who, after realizing his current job situation will not be enough to save his sick mother, finds himself mixed up in the world of crime and illegal substances. That’s where he encounters Garrett (Stephen), along with some other not-so-positive people that take advantage of his current situation.

Those familiar with Amell’s line of work know he’s no stranger to sci-fi lore. Along with his stint as Firestorm on “The Flash,” the former superhero has also powered up on “The Tomorrow People,” a short-lived CW series that lasted just one season. Having first-hand experience from working in the genre (and knowing the budgetary restrictions they’d face), the goal of “Code 8” became quite clear. 

“When we talked about making the movie, we talked about movies we liked: “Chronicle,” “District 9,” but also movies like “Heat,” said Amell. “We wanted to essentially make a crime drama that had sci-fi elements blended into the background. We love those $200 million movies, we go see those $200 million movies, but we knew we weren't going to be able to do anything like that. I also think people have gotten a little numb to seeing people throwing through buildings.”

Amell just wanted there to be more. A sci-fi story didn’t mean the finished product had to end up as a cheesy, obviously fictional green screen flick where it was easy to tell the real from the fake. He and the rest of the team aimed to “blend the real and CG into a world where people can get lost in, and might trick them a little easier.”

“That was always a big deal for us,” he notes. “For us, we just wanted to make a story that was grounded and relatable, but above all else, we knew we had to entertain people.”

Having family on set certainly made the creation of “Code 8” an enjoyable one, too. Of the 11 episodes Amell spent on “The Flash” set, he never had the opportunity to directly play off his older actor relative. As their characters’ relationship grows in the film, he says “it was nice to bring a little bit of our own relationship into it, and the chemistry that we have being family.”

“It was also just nice to spend five weeks hanging out in Toronto, just getting to enjoy some time together because he's been shooting in Vancouver for so long,” adds Amell, referencing his time on “Arrow,” which wraps up its final season in early 2020. “It was just one of those sets where everybody on set was so excited and happy to be there, and cared about what they were doing. Everybody was working their ass off, but it was always enjoyable.”

With the film set for a release date of December 13, at this point, all Amell hopes is as many eyes see the film as possible. Even if you can’t get to a theater where the action is bigger and louder, he highlights iTunes or video on demand “where you can rent it for five bucks, or buy it for like 12 bucks.”

“I think that it's an entertaining movie with some pretty prevalent themes right now,” he says. “It might make you question some of the character's decisions, but that's what we wanted. We didn't want to make this movie about right and wrong, we wanted to make this movie that was real, these kinds of gray areas where people make bad decisions for the right reasons, and I think it'll make people think and ask questions, but they’ll really enjoy the 90-minute experience.”

As for what’s next? Even with a spin-off series already in the pipeline, don’t count Amell out of the superhero game just yet.

“Jeff [Chan] and I talked about how fun it would be to make a ‘Batman Beyond’ live action, but these properties are really tough to get into,” he admits. “They're very well guarded by the people who own the IP. Right now, we're just really concentrating on ‘Code 8,’ and hopefully the next step of what we're going to do with that.”

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Sean Abrams, Khareem Sudlow