Richard Stanley's H.P. Lovecraft Trilogy is Still Happening

In March 2021, screenwriter Scarlett Amaris, who collaborated with Richard Stanley on “Color Out of Space,” alleged in a blog post that she had been in an abusive relationship with him.

A French court eventually found Stanley innocent of the allegations, deciding that the claims by Amaris were false. However, that was after SpectreVision, which produced “Color Out of Space,” announced it would no longer work with Stanley and that they would donate all revenue from the film to anti-domestic violence charities.

I don’t really know enough about the case to fully chime in on the evidence against Stanley, and there are definitely some out there who still believe, contrary to the French court’s verdict, that Stanley was definitely not innocent of the abuse allegations.

Regardless, the controversy subsequently put a halt on Stanley’s plans to turn ‘Color Out of Space,’ which starred Nicolas Cage, into a trilogy of H.P. Lovecraft adaptations — his next one was supposed to be “The Dunwich Horror.” I thought Stanley would never be able to complete the trilogy, let alone work again, but a recent development might have proven my skeptical assertions wrong.

Stanley has confirmed that ‘Dunwich Horror’ is indeed happening. The announcement was made during a ‘Color Out of Space’ retrospective screening of the film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, where Stanley revealed ‘Dunwich’ to be his next project.

In ‘Dunwich Horror,’ an invisible creature terrorizes the small and isolated village of Dunwich for several days, killing two families and several policemen, until Armitage, Rice, and Morgan arrive with the knowledge and spiritual weapons needed to kill it.

So, Stanley’s exoneration in French court seems to have helped him in turning his proposed Lovecraft trilogy into a reality. Production List has ‘Dunwich Horror’ now eyeing a June 2, 2025 shoot on the film.

“The Dunwich Horror” will be produced by Ace Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Side Street Studios, continuing Stanley’s deep dive into the enigmatic world of Lovecraft. In a rather ambitious move, Stanley also revealed that ‘Dunwich Horror’ will be adapted into a two-part film, allowing for a “more expansive and detailed exploration of the story's complex themes and haunting atmosphere.”

Ace Pictures is the same production company attached to ‘Color Out of Space,’ which was funded largely by Asian producers who also gave him tons of artistic freedom. SpectreVision seemed to purely be middlemen in ‘Color Out of Space.’