Director Panos Cosmatos is developing a reputation for films that are visual experiences that almost feel like acid trips. He’s helmed projects like “Beyond The Black Rainbow” and the equally bonkers Nicolas Cage-led revenge film “Mandy.” It was only a matter of time before Cosmatos would find a project that would catch the interest of A24 Films, a studio that is known for weird and quirky genre pictures.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that “Nekrokosm” is that project at A24 and XYZ Films. It’s an original sci-fi fantasy film that has a story by Cosmatos and Maegan Houang (“Shogun,” “Counterpart“), who is now tackling the script.
In-depth details on “Nekrokosm” aren’t mentioned but it is described as a “phantasmagorical fantasy nightmare” that is “set deep within a strange galaxy where two lovers are torn apart as they try to survive a malevolent invasion.”
Houang wrote on FX‘s high-profile reboot of “Shogun,” a samurai epic that stars Cosmo Jarvis, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Anna Sawai.
Cosmatos had recently worked with Oscar-winner Guillermo Del Toro (“Nightmare Alley“) on his horror anthology series “Cabinet of Curiosities” at Netflix, directing an episode. Other directors assembled include del Toro, Jennifer Kent, David Prior (“The Empty Man“), veteran cinematographer turned director Guillermo Navarro (“The Godfather of Harlem,” “Hannibal,” “Narcos“), Vincenzo Natali (“Cube,” “Splice,” “The Strain“), Ana Lily Amirpour (“The Bad Batch“), Catherine Hardwicke (“Twilight,” “Miss Bala“), and Keith Thomas (“Firestarter“).
From the brief synopsis, it sounds like Cosmatos might be moving into a bigger scale than that of his previous films, depending on the budget, and could be exposed to a larger audience with this new pic.