When we last spoke with Nicolas Winding Refn, he remained coy about the status of his much-talked-about female-led horror film. "It depends on my mood waking up that day," he stated about whether or not it’s his next film. And it looks like the mood strikes him.
THR reports that the movie, previously referred to as "I Walk With The Dead," is now titled "The Neon Demon," it will be Refn’s next film, and production will start in the spring. While Polly Stenham was attached to write the script at one point, the trade said that Mary Laws, a first-time screenwriter out of Yale, has co-written the project with Refn. The story will find the director returning to Los Angeles to tell a story that he describes as "a horror film about vicious beauty." Longtime collaborator Cliff Martinez will score the film. Philippe Le Sourd (Wong Kar-Wai‘s "The Grand Master") will be the DP.
But what about Carey Mulligan, who has also been linked to the project for ages? Well, she’s not mentioned, and when we chatted with Refn earlier this fall, all he would offer about her participation is, "Sometimes a mystery is better left unsolved until you see it. Or else what are you going to talk about?"
Either way, exciting news and hopefully more to come soon. Update: Screen Daily says the movie is due in 2016. Shooting begins first quarter next year. In a statement Renf said, "One morning I woke and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty. After making Drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of Los Angeles, I knew I had to return to tell the story of The Neon Demon.”
