Brian De Palma To Make Horror Film Inspired By Harvey Weinstein, ‘Predator’
The Harvey Weinstein scandal inspired the MeToo movement, and it seems the filmmaker — who was recently arrested on rape charges — also inspired Brian De Palma’s return to horror. With titles like The Fury, Raising Cain, and the huge smash-hit Carrie, De Palma is no stranger to horror movies, but his Weinstein-inspired film will mark his return to the genre in quite some time.
As Deadline reported, Brian De Palma’s horror film is titled Predator, and Saïd Ben Saïd and Michael Merkt are set to produce. Production won’t begin for another year because of Ben Saïd’s busy schedule. Purportedly, De Palma is using the Toronto Film Festival as the backdrop for the movie, and the film will be shot in Toronto.
In an interview with the French publication Le Parisien, as transcribed by People, De Palma shared some information about his new horror movie. The interview took place before it was announced that Saïd and Merkt were the producers of Predator.
“I am writing a film about this scandal, which I am currently discussing with a French producer. My character will not be called Harvey Weinstein. But it will be a horror movie, with a sexual aggressor, and it will happen in the film industry. As a director you have to get actors’ confidence and their love in order to be able to use their instrument in your movie. And to violate it on any level is just to me the worst thing you can do, just because of your gluttony or your lust.”
Many brave women and men have come forward during the MeToo and TimesUp movements, and the Harvey Weinstein scandal is considered one of the biggest in Hollywood or business history; over 60 women have come forward accusing the filmmaker of sexual misconduct. De Palma is not the only person who is using the huge scandal as inspiration for a story.
In an interview with the Chicago Tribune last February, award-winning director and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet (House of Games, Glengarry Glen Ross) said that he wrote a play about Weinstein. In the interview, Mamet said that he thinks about sexual abuse a lot because of his daughters and young son. Reportedly, the play has been given a temporary title of Bitter Wheat.
David Mamet recently released his new crime thriller novel, Chicago. Brian De Palma is in post-production for his 2018 thriller film, Domino, about a Copenhagen police officer who is seeking justice after his partner is murdered by a mysterious killer.
