Louie Psihoyos’s 2009 documentary The Cove—a devastating exposé on Japan’s dolphin hunting industry that won an Oscar for Best Doc, halved Japan’s annual dolphin and porpoises killings and helped eliminate mercury-tainted meats from Japanese school cafeterias—was apparently just a “warm up act.” Psihoyos and his team at the Oceanic Preservation Society are taking on a much larger subject in their new documentary The Heist: mass extinction of the species. The director has been tight-lipped, but promises an “Oceans 11″/”Avengers”-esque eco thriller that will not only put viewers on the edge of their seats, but inspire activism for an important cause. He hinted in the video that accompanied his Kickstarter campaign that the new doc aims to “give endangered species a voice by using urban spaces as the world’s largest canvas for the sights and sounds of the creatures we’re losing.” The film is currently in post-production, but Psihoyos told Ecorazzi in a recent interview that it’s nearing the finish line. “We just screened a rough cut of the first 75 percent of the film for a big festival, I shouldn’t say which one yet, but there wasn’t a dry eye in the house. Let’s just say the ending will be spectacular, like nothing that’s ever been done before.” If The Cove was able to change Japan’s dolphin poaching practices and inspire a worldwide call to action, we can’t wait to see what Psihoyos and his team do next.
MORE: This Brave 12-Year-Old Is Proud She Was Arrested. Here’s Why.