A24 Dark Comedy ‘The Masque Of The Red Death’ Adds Léa Seydoux Alongside Mikey Madison In Revisionist Take On Edgar Allan Poe Tale

It has been a hot minute since we’ve heard from French actress Léa Seydoux (“Dune: Part Two,” “Silent Friend”) being cast in a new project as she’s been busy with the acclaimed video game “Death Stranging 2: On The Beach,” but she’ll be taking a lead role alongside Mikey Madison in a feature film version of “The Masque of the Red Death.”

This casting update comes to us from Deadline, as the pic at A24 and Picturestart is a “revisionist dark comedic take” on the classic short story penned by author Edgar Allan Poe and published back in 1842.

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From writer/director Charlie Polinger of the buzzy new psychological drama “The Plague,” which released last month, the Poe adaptation’s logline from the report states the film “follows Prince Prospero, who retreats with a group of nobles into a fortified abbey as a deadly plague ravages the countryside. To distract themselves, the elites host an elaborate masked ball, but as the night progresses, an unsettling presence disrupts the celebration, forcing the guests to confront the reality they believed they had shut out.”

Julia Hammer and Erik Feig are producing for Picturestart, alongside James Presson and Lucy McKendrick, with Polinger executive producing, as A24 will distribute the film globally.

Seydoux had been attached for a key role in Luca Guadagnino‘s sidelined queer romantic flick “Separate Rooms,” which has since lost lead actor Josh O’Connor (“Wake Up Dead Man”), and we’re still waiting for a project update as the Italian filmmaker has been focusing on the production of his high-profile OpenAI biopic drama, “Artificial.”

Madison, of course, is coming off her Best Actress Oscar win for Sean Baker‘s Best Picture winning sex worker dramedy “Anora” and has recently shot Aaron Sorkin‘s follow-up to “The Social Network” with the next chapter in his Facebook saga, “The Social Reckoning,” exploring more modern events.

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We have to imagine that “The Masque of the Red Death” could court more high-profile talent to fill roles; time will tell. A version of the Poe story was adapted for the big screen by the late Roger Corman in the 1960s, with genre icon Vincent Price taking a lead role.