It’s always great to see a talented, young filmmaker ascend the ladder, especially one as deserving as Jeremy Saulnier. The director broke out in a big way at the Cannes Film Festival in the Directors’ Fortnight section in 2013 with his lacerating sophomore film “Blue Ruin.” Hollywood took notice and for his follow-up, the critically-acclaimed “Green Room” — a brutal and stress-inducing thriller — he bagged an impressive cast that included Patrick Stewart, Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, and frequent collaborator Macon Blair. Incredibly taut and extremely well crafted, Saulnier arguably reached auteur status with the nail-biter.
As many in the industry continue to take notice, his casting keeps inching closer towards the A-list, and the troupe of his next film is exceptional. Titled “Hold The Dark,” the film stars “Westworld” lead Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgard, Riley Keough, James Badge Dale and James Bloor. Of course, when filmmakers are trying to get a project off the ground and don’t have the funds, they often go to a streaming service with deep pockets. So “Hold The Dark,” an adventure thriller, has already found a home at Netflix.
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Based on William Giraldi’s book of the same name, the story is set in a remote Alaskan wilderness in which wolves have taken and killed children. According to THR, the film from there includes a wolf-expert biologist, a secret-harboring mother and an Iraq war veteran who goes on a killing sprees when he learns about the death of his son. It sounds like an ice cold movie where the snow turns blood red.
Saulnier’s longtime creative partner Macon Blair wrote the script. Considering Saulnier’s last two films debuted in Cannes in the Directors’ Fortnight section it’ll be a good bet, “Hold The Dark” will end up on the Croisette in some kind of slot, and perhaps graduate to Un Certain Regard. Either way, we’ve got yet another 2018 project to highly anticipate.