Following beloved indies like “Blue Ruin,” “Green Room,” and 2018’s “Hold the Dark,” it’s been several years since we’ve heard from filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier. Saulnier does have a new movie in the can, “Rebel Ridge,” but in a new interview, he describes the making of it as “tumultuous” and admits it was shot three different times (or at least it sounds like there were three different times production attempted to begin).
In a new interview with U.K. outlet Film Stories, Saulnier talked about the many disruptions that affected the movie’s production, including shooting during COVID. “We came back three years in a row to make that movie,” he admitted.
Described as a “high-velocity thriller that explores systemic American injustices through bone-breaking action sequences, suspense, and dark humor,” the movie originally starred John Boyega, who then suddenly dropped out of the film midway through shooting (Boyega cited a family emergency, but the rumors were far and wide about his onset behavior and talk that he didn’t love the script).
As for the truth of the Boyega situation, Saulnier wouldn’t address it but alluded to “an issue that shut us down in year two.” The production was shut down and eventually restarted with Aaron Pierre in the lead role (known for Barry Jenkins’ “Underground Railroad”). Don Johnson, James Badge Dale, James Cromwell, and AnnaSophia Robb co-star.
“Whatever happened to us along the way, it allowed us to cast a young man, Aaron Pierre, who’s on the rise, who would not normally be allowed to [lead] a—I think the budget’s $40M, $37M, whatever it is – [film],” the director revealed, noting that his highest budget until then was “Hold The Dark,” which he said was made for “under $15 million.”
Many details about the film haven’t been released, but Saulnier said the film was the “opposite” of movies like “Hold The Dark,” which were mostly centered around isolation.
“The latest movie [‘Rebel Ridge’] is the opposite – it’s actually hurling someone headlong into… it’s still a small town, but it is bureaucracy, it is the justice system, it is a militarized police force,” he said. “All these things that go down. But it’s a lot of interactivity and talking and fighting. And it’s much more thrust into the mix. So maybe I had my fill of [isolation], and I wanted to go a different direction.”
Saulnier admitted that the film’s turbulent production saw him “slamming right into the Hollywood I’ve tried to avoid.”
“I think I’ve had enough time with it,” Saulnier said, having sat with the movie, which sounds completed but now needs a release date. “It had a tumultuous birthing process, but because of that, it’s my first movie where I’m fully at peace with it at the release point—whatever that might be, we have not found the release date yet. With ‘Rebel Ridge,’ I’m like, ‘No, it’s not a perfect film, but man, it’s the best it can be’… For me to call my agent and say, ‘Hey, guess what? Like, this film isn’t at all a piece of shit’ is a big step forward. So I’m very excited to share it.”
The filmmaker himself actually did say the film was shot three different times on Twitter, revealing that production on the movie ended in July of 2022. “Wrap on REBEL RIDGE. The third time was indeed a charm. Eternal thanks to the cast and crew for their collective art and cinematic fortitude. Now, a donut and a nap,” he wrote on Twitter at the time.
It sounds like shoot one was COVID-19 delayed, production two was the Boyega situation, and the third attempt was the version shot with Pierre, which apparently did not pick up until 11 months after the main shutdown. There is no release date for the film, and given Netflix has already revealed much of its 2024 slate, presumably, it’s not coming out till next year at the earliest. However, Saulnier sounds like he is turning the corner with it, and who knows, maybe Netflix quietly goes with a film festival premiere at some point. Time will tell.