Controversial Filmmaker Tony Kaye Set to Direct First Film in Over 10 Years

Back in 1998, there weren’t many cinephiles who hadn’t seen Tony Kaye’s “American History X.”

Kaye had come from a background of commercials and had a reputation as a music video genius. The sky was the limit for Kaye, but “American History X” flopped, behind-the-scenes drama also painted the controversial filmmaker as a troubled genius who was impossible to work with. Then word came out that the actual theatrical cut we had seen was re-edited by the film’s star, Edward Norton. Kaye disowned the final cut of the film and unsuccessfully attempted to have his name removed from the credits.

Kaye was consequentially blacklisted in the industry.

He’s made a few films since then, mostly unreleased due to chaotic productions. Trouble has always followed Kaye. It’s been a decade since his last film, “Detachment,” was release. “Detachment” was mostly unseen, that is until the IMDB crowd caught on to the film, and it has now become some kind of cult classic. Its 7.7 rating and close to 84,000 votes on IMDB are not supposed to be the stats of a film that only made $70,000 in its brief 6-week theatrical run.

Now, the venerable Roger Friedman is hearing that Kaye has signed on to direct his first film in over 11 years and that it has actually been greenlit. Its title is “The Trainer” and was written by Vito Schnabel, the art gallerist son of famed painter Julian Schnabel. The film, which is rumored to star the talented Julia Fox, is reportedly going to start filming imminently.