Filming begins tomorrow in Guthrie, New Mexico on “The Killer Inside Me,” an adaptation of the popular Jim Thompson pulp novel helmed by Michael Winterbottom. The long-awaited project had filming postponed, but now looks like it’s a go after financing stalled on what seems like a $10 million sure bet. “Killer” stars Casey Affleck as a deputy sheriff who commits murder, then eventually is compelled to act on darker urges to cement his innocence when the evidence looks suspicious. The material was previously adapted in 1976 by director Burt Kennedy, but knowing the idiosyncratic Winterbottom’s ever-changing style, this is sure to be a barely recognizable retelling of the same story.
The film also stars Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Bill Pullman and Ned Beatty- for a $10 million budget, that’s an impressive collection of names. Alba and Hudson alone are probably two of the very few female actresses who can open a film, and Pullman still has his fans (Beatty, I would imagine- less so). While they are probably working for scale for a chance to work with Winterbottom (“24 Hour Party People,” “A Mighty Heart”), is indie film funding so rough that they can’t score a meager $10 million budget for this? Did Kate Hudson demand a certain type of vitamin water? Does Ned Beatty wear special shoes? Fill us in, people.
Interestingly, another reason filming was pushed back was because Casey Affleck was not only perfecting his accent, but also completing his “documentary” on the evolution of Joaquin Phoenix from actor to rapper. Seeing as how there are no album announcements on the horizon, and Phoenix himself has been fairly quiet, could this project not finished as much as fizzled out? The speculation remains that the whole thing was a hoax, but in what state is the footage already shot? Could it be a fancy special feature on the upcoming “Two Lovers” DVD, or perhaps leaked online?
Filming is set to wrap on “The Killer Inside Me” in late June. Get those spy reports ready, Ned Beatty fansites!
