Movies
Hail Paimon! You Can Read Ari Aster’s ‘Hereditary’ Screenplay!
Screenwriting can be such an underappreciated craft in Hollywood, especially in the way we perceive a film’s success or failure. Often times, a bad film gets blamed on the script, while the director gets much of the credit in the wake of a success. It’s the unfair truth of Hollywood. It’s one of the reasons I used to enjoy reading screenplays with my spare time – you can learn a lot about a film just from diving into the script. (A great example is the phenomenal A Nightmare On Elm Street remake screenplay written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer, which was butchered by music video director Samuel Bayer.)
Beyond the educational value, it’s fun to see how the script compares to what ended up on screen and if there are any variations to what was presented (what reads strong on paper could end up on the cutting room floor). Such the case with Ari Aster‘s masterpiece, Hereditary, which I believe will be nominated for multiple Academy Awards – one of which will be for Aster’s original screenplay. While I haven’t had the chance to read through it yet, Aster’s screenplay is available online, and a quick skim gives me the impression that much of what he wrote ending up word-for-word on screen. If you too believe Hereditary is a masterpiece, it all started at the scripting stage, which makes this an amazing opportunity to be able to get inside Aster’s mind as he wrote one of the most chilling films ever made. (It would behoove aspiring filmmakers to read through and see what they can take away from it.) Read it here.
Andrzej Żuławski’s 1981 psychological horror movie Possession is getting a remake from Smile writer/director Parker Finn, and Deadline reports that The Batman actor Paul Dano has joined the cast.
No word at this time on character details, though.
The original film starred Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill as a married couple in Cold War-era West Berlin whose relationship spirals into a supernatural nightmare. In Finn’s update, Margaret Qualley and Callum Turner will star as the turbulent couple in Finn’s Possession, and Adjani has officially given her blessing on Qualley’s casting.
Parker Finn is writing and directing the new take on Possession.
He’s also producing alongside Jonathan Fass via Bad Feeling, along with Roy Lee and Andrew Childs via Vertigo, and Robert Pattinson. Marc Bienstock is serving as exec producer.
Our own Brian Keiper celebrated Possession‘s 40th anniversary here on BD back in 2021, writing: “Few movies depict emotional turmoil as effectively and daringly as Andrzej Zulawksi’s Possession. It is a challenging and sometimes inscrutable film, both for the mind and the emotions. Zulawski struggles through a number of deep issues throughout the course of the film; issues that speak to some of humanity’s deepest pains and fears. In many ways it is about loss— loss of political ideals, loss of faith, and loss of innocence. But most of all, Possession is about the fear, pain, and anger that comes from the loss of a marriage.”
This will mark Dano’s first horror role. The actor previously appeared in sci-fi hits Looper and Okja.
Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill in Possession
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