Who doesn’t love The Big Chill, that Lawrence Kasdan comedy-drama in which a bunch of baby boomers get together at one of their number’s funeral and reminisce, bicker, fall in love and generally have a grand old time?
And yet, who hasn’t looked at it and thought, ‘you know what? That movie would be better if a killer went around picking them off one-by-one!’? Anyone?
Well, writers Anthony Grieco and Jeff Drongowski clearly did, because that’s the basic premise for a new horror movie, Hurt, which has just been picked up by the producers of the Rob Zombie remake of Halloween. And, to give the story that extra bit of gloss, the script was optioned on… Halloween.
The film, just to clarify, isn’t a direct riff on The Big Chill (The Big Kill, anyone?), but it’s hard not to imagine that it didn’t play a part in the thinking of Drongowski and Grieco, as they put together their story about a group of estranged friends who gather for a funeral, after one of their old number commits suicide.
However, when they start dying one-by-one, it becomes clear that they were gathered there for an entirely different reason: revenge.
Trancas International Films’ Malek Akkad, Left Hook Entertainment's Justin Hogan and Yellowsand Pictures’ Marc Lazard will produce the film for newcomer Adam Finberg to direct.
Sounds promising – Empire is always a fan of 80s-style slashers, and this one has the potential for some satire as well.