Olga Kurylenko‘s name may have just entered the rumor mill in relation to possibly joining “Batman vs. Superman” as Wonder Woman, but as a batch of recent casting news shows, the “To The Wonder” actress will have a bout of horror first. While the star from “We’re The Millers” aims to don a costume instead, “Catwoman” director Pitof re-emerges with his next project, and John Cusack plans to hire a getaway driver.
Kurylenko has been announced (via Dread Central) to star in the supernatural horror film “Mara”, which will mark music video director Clive Tonge‘s feature-length debut. Focusing on the mythology surrounding sleep paralysis, the film follows a criminal psychologist (Kurylenko) who investigates the murder of a man, apparently by his wife, and instead finds herself within the legend of a demon that kills people in their sleep. Production on the film is set for May next year, and soon after we’ll see how Kurylenko fares in the center of a horror effort.
One of the few successful aspects of this year’s tepid “We’re The Millers” was actor Will Poulter and his naïve teenage character. And now commercial director Adam Randall is hoping to carry that strength through to his new superhero film, entitled “iBoy.” Adapted by Joe Barton from the novel by Kevin Brooks, the film follows a London teenager, Tom (Poulter), who is assaulted by a gang on the street and left with fragments of a cellphone embedded in his brain. When Tom re-awakens, he discovers that he has the ability to access electronic devices, procure secrets from them, and possibly exact his revenge. Surprise, the project will adopt a grittier superhero narrative, but we’ll see just how unsettling matters get as Randall’s film gathers a cast before cameras roll in February. [Empire]
Aside from the 2008 TV movie “Fire and Ice,” director Pitof has laid pretty low since his fairly excruciating and oddly amusing “Catwoman” adaptation starring Halle Berry in 2004. But now he’s returned with a new psychological thriller and another suitably wonky cast. “Twisted” centers on a novelist who writes her new book on the Internet, drawing inspiration from a forum where people chat about their most violent impulses. Soon, the book becomes reality as bodies start to pile up, but when the potential murders and victims include Sharon Stone (seemingly not scarred by “Catwoman”), Gina Gershon, Billy Zane, and Edward Furlong, it might just be some sort of B-movie heaven that results when the film shoots next year in New Orleans. Or you can judge for yourself by reading the entire script right here. [Film Festivals]
Dwelling then in some similarly genre-defined purgatory, Cusack and Thomas Jane have recently wrapped production in Australia on “Drive Hard”, an actioner directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and written by Chad and Evan Law. Cusack plays an American thief who escapes the country and arrives in foreign lands ready for another score. He needs a getaway driver though, so he hires a former Formula 1 champion (played by Jane) to fill the role for an upcoming bank heist. With the Ethan Hawke/Selena Gomez disaster “Getaway” still barely lingering in the memory, hopefully this film manages to at least play Cusack and Jane off of one another for an enjoyable time. We’ll find out soon enough though, as Image Entertainment acquired the film’s rights for a theatrical release next year. [Variety]
Lastly, Isla Fisher, Ellen Barkin and Jim Parsons are going the low budget horror route with “Visions.” Jason Blum produces and Kevin Greutert (“Saw VI,” “Saw 3D“) directs this one about “a pregnant woman [who] has unsettling visions that become increasingly more realistic and terrifying at her husband’s vineyard home.” Sounds like a riff on “Rosemary’s Baby” or something but we’ll find out soon enough. [Variety]