It should come as no surprise that success on the festival circuit can lead to a thriving career. Even if that means a career just out side of the mainstream. That’s partially where Ana Lily Amipour finds herself currently, but at her current pace, she’s bound to land a big big Hollywood job soon enough. After the festival smash A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night in 2015, she followed with the divisive The Bad Batch just last year. Now, past the sophomore slump and with TV credits like Castle Rock & Legion under her belt, Amipour sets up for her most ambitious film to date. Better still, she’s lined up Craig Robinson, Kate Hudson and Zach Efron to join her on the project.
Coming from a report at Deadline, Amipour’s next feature is called Blood Moon. Of course, being in early stage, most of the plot is being kept under wraps. Here’s what we know so far:
“A mind-bending adventure set in the swampy neon-lit streets of New Orleans, and inspired by fantasy-adventure movies of the 1980s and ’90s. At its center is a girl with strange and dangerous abilities who escapes from a mental asylum and rejoins the chaos of modern-day civilization, on the hedonistic streets of the French Quarter.”
New Orleans has become a popular location to film recently, partially due to nice tax incentives. Setting a film there also takes advantage of the unique atmosphere and culture of the city. Which can easily become a character itself. Digging further, a line sticks out that may make Blood Moon special. Or could threaten push it into the realm of the ridiculous. The script is said to “pair strange, violent, and humorous sequences with a range of music from heavy metal to Italian techno.” How that plays into the movie, no one knows. Yet it’s something worth sitting up and taking notice of.
The biggest part of all this, has to be the casting. The Bad Batch had some recognizable faces, but can’t compare here. Hudson, Robinson and Efron cater to a vastly wide variety of filmgoers. Even if people seek out the film based off curiosity, that could end up being good. Bolstering Box Office numbers can be massive. Specially if it’s paired with a film with a relatively light budget. It’s everyone’s go to example now, but Halloween was made for only $10 million dollars and looks more expensive. Not saying that will necessarily be the case here, but any time you can make a big profit (partially based on your stars), it gets you more notice, which could lead to bigger things. Potentially having more high profile female directors isn’t something to shirk at.
Hudson is the wild card here. Specially when compared to some of the weirder films Robinson and Efron have been in recently. Traditionally cast in big studio pictures, Hudson’s only really dabbled in a couple smaller films. Not has she done anything approaching how Blood Moon sounds. We’ll see how things pan out, once we know who she’s playing. Production is set to begin in early 2019, but our eyes will be frantically watching the wire for any news that pops up in the future. This one firmly has our attention.
