I’ve said it a million times already, but Tim Sutton is one of the best indie filmmakers working today. With films like “Dark Night,” “Memphis” and “Pavillion,” he has proven that he’s able to tell dark stories that really cut to the core. And with recent features like “Funny Face” and “Donnybrook,” Sutton has shown that he’ll keep that same tone and style even if he has major actors in lead roles. Now, it appears he’s going to keep his streak of dark films going with his upcoming hip-hop tragedy, “Good News.”
According to Rivulet Media, Tim Sutton is set to write and direct a new feature, “Good News,” which aims to tell the story of the last days of a young musician that is dealing with substance abuse and rising fame. The film is set to star Colson Baker, perhaps better known as Machine Gun Kelly, a musician that is intimately familiar with this type of story, as he has personally experienced quite a bit. “Good News” is a bit of a reunion for Baker and Sutton, as the actor is set to lead the cast of the upcoming Western, “The Last Son,” which is directed by Sutton.
Here’s the description of the new film:
“Good News” tells the story of the last days of a rising but troubled musician (Baker). A work of fiction inspired by the brilliance and tragedy of so many contemporary artists, including Mac Miller, Lil Peep, Pop Smoke and Juice Wrld, “Good News” is a soulful, authentic and surreal cautionary tale – one that is both universal and uniquely of its time.
If you’re a listener to The Playlist Podcast, you might remember our recent interview with Tim Sutton where he went over his inspiration for “Good News” and teased some of what the film might include.
“It’s about the untimely overdose of a musician,” Sutton explained at the time. “Listen, I get a lot of inspiration from Gus Van Sant, that’s no lie. And it’s not ‘Last Days.’ But it seems like no one has made a hip-hop tragedy yet. And I think there’s a lot of tragedy with the opioids and people dying young. And a lot of these SoundCloud rappers not being able to reach their full potential because of society and Instagram and social media and drugs and all of that. No one has made that movie yet, and I’m hoping to do so.”
Obviously, at the time, he didn’t mention Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly, being involved as the star of the film, but considering they worked together on “The Last Son,” it makes sense they would reunite for a film that definitely seems to be the part that Baker was born to play.
No release date has been set for “Good News,” but filming is expected to begin in early July, pointing to a 2022 debut at a film festival, most likely.