Guillermo del Toro Will Co-Write and Direct a Remake of The 1947 Carnival Noir Thriller NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Guillermo del Toro has jumped on board a couple new film projects since The Shape of Water landed seven Golden Globe nominations this week. The film projects are set up at Fox Searchlight and he's looking to produce one of them and co-write and direct the other.
The film he's producing is a supernatural film called Antlers, and the studio is currently in talks with Scott Cooper (Hostiles, Out of the Furnace, Black Mass) to direct it. Apparently, Del Toro is a fan of Cooper's work and has been wanting to work with him. This will definitely be a different kind of project for Cooper.
Antlers is based on a short story called "The Quiet Boy" by Antosca and the script was penned by Henry Chaisson and Nick Antosca. The horror story follows "a young teacher who discovers that her troubled student’s father and younger brother harbor a deadly supernatural secret. Taking the boy into her care, the teacher must fight for their survival against horrors beyond imagination."
The film that Del Toro is co-writing and directing is called Nightmare Alley and it's a remake of the 1947 film. This is a Carnival set noir thriller that he will write with Kim Morgan.
The original movie starred Tyrone Power and the story follows "an ambitious young con-man who hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more corrupt than he is. At first, they enjoy success fleecing people with their mentalist act, but then she turns the table on him, out-manipulating the manipulator."
These sound like a couple of great projects for Del Toro to be a part of! This is what he had to say in a statement:
“I am delighted to continue the producing partnership that has been forged with Fox Searchlight during the making of ‘The Shape of Water.' Nancy, Steve, David and Matthew and the entire team are great champions of true cinema. With both ‘Nightmare Alley’ and ‘Antlers’ I know we will create entertaining, elevated films.”
I loved Del Toro's The Shape of Water. I know he is a hit or miss director for some people but with the way he masterfully brought The Shape of Water to life on the big screen, I think from here on out we'll be seeing him make better films. I'm excited about the filmmaker's future and I'm looking forward to these new projects.