We’re very excited to share the news that funny man Kumail Nanjiani is set to make his feature film directorial debut with the horror comedy “Howl” and has just been picked up by Amazon MGM Studios/Orion Pictures, the deep pocketed film studios owned by the streaming service. His working relationship is growing with them after recently appearing in the second season of “Fallout,” based on the popular post-apocalyse video game.
“Howl,” which sees Nanjiani also starring in the main role, is going to be a high-concept werewolf project horror flick written by Madison Vanderberg with comedic beats and the tantlaziing logline shared in Deadline’s reporting gives us some insight into what audiences can expect from it.
“A famous but notoriously troubled actor who announces on a talk show that in less than an hour, he’ll turn into a werewolf — on live TV.”
Of course, Nanjiani, who broke out in Mike Judge/HBO‘s “Silicon Valley,” isn’t a stranger to the world of filmmaking as he co-wrote the film “The Big Sick” (ended up getting picked up by Amazon) with his wife/creative partner Emily Gordon, leading to their Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for penning the lovely film based on their own experinces in their relationship starting off with a near medical tradegy. He and Gordon are also deeply involved with the LuckyChap/Prime series adaptation of the comic book “Sex Criminals,” which is a cool genre project that Nia DaCosta (“28 Years Later: The Bone Temple”) is directing episodes.
Sounds like “Howl” could be taking a page from “Late Night with The Devil,” about a talk show that featured a demonic pocession. Alongside the charming horror comedy from not too long ago with the video game adaptation “Werewolves Within” that had starred Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, and Harvey Guillén, and worth seeking out. We can’t wait to see what other actors are enlised to co-star with Nanjiani, given his deep roots within the comedy community.
Weed Road Pictures‘ Akiva Goldsman, Greg Lessans and Rachel Wizenberg alongside Nanjiani, Gordon and Dani Melia at Winter Coat Films will be heading up the producing team assembled for “Howl.”
