Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz is heading to New York for a “dark psychological thriller”, Bloody Disgusting was told in a press release announcing the film. After some resistance to working in the U.S., Belgian arthouse horror director Fabrice Du Welz has announced that he will be helming his first American feature. More (working title) is a dark psychological thriller set in downtown New York. For the auteur behind the moody, terrifying films Calvaire and Vinyan, the movie is “another exploration of the world of madness.” Read on for more.
21-year-old American Brady Corbet is set to play the lead in what Du Welz calls “truly a breakout role.” The director was immediately drawn to Corbet, who has worked with Michael Hanneke (FUNNY GAMES US) and Gregg Araki (MYSTERIOUS SKIN). “He’s a bright young actor, full of potential,” says Du Welz. “As soon as I met him, I had a strong feeling.”

On board as director of photography is regular Du Welz collaborator Benoit Debie, who most recently shot Gaspar Noe’s ENTER THE VOID and the biopic of American 70s teen band THE RUNAWAYS.

While this will be Du Welz’s first Stateside effort, MORE will be his second English-language film, after 2009’s stunning VINYAN, a Venice and Toronto premiere. That film starred Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Beart as a couple who, mourning the loss of their son in the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami, go on a hapless search for the child in the jungles of Burma.

MORE, penned by 22-year-old newcomer Zachary Wigon, is being produced by Alex Mar and Nicholas Shumaker of New York- and Florida-based Empire 8 Productions, in conjunction with Michael Gentile of Paris-based The Film.

Empire 8 is currently in post-production on Mar’s directorial debut, AMERICAN MYSTIC, a high-aesthetic feature doc about twenty-somethings immersed in fringe religious groups in the U.S. They are also in post on Mike Cahill’s arthouse sci-fi film ANOTHER EARTH, with producers Paul Mezey (HALF NELSON, MARIA FULL OF GRACE) and Hunter Gray (VOY A EXPLOTAR, MOMMA’S MAN) of Artists Public Domain.

The Film produced Du Welz’s two previous films. Their most recent production, THE TIME THAT REMAINS, is receiving its North American premiere in Toronto, following screenings in competition in Cannes.

MORE is set to go into production this spring in New York.