UPDATE: Gus Van Sant is officially back to cinema. His “Dead Man’s Wire” has started production in Louisville, Kentucky. Colman Domingo has also been added to the cast.
EARLIER: The InSneider is reporting that Van Sant is set to direct Bill Skarsgård in the true crime thriller “Dead Man’s Wire.” This is the same project that was originally supposed to star Nicolas Cage, and be directed by Werner Herzog.
“Dead Man’s Wire” is set in 1977, and based on a true story tackling Tony Kiritsis (Skarsgård), a former real estate developer who put a dead man’s switch on himself and the mortgage banker he felt did him wrong, demanding $5M as well as a personal apology.
This is set to be Van Sant’s first film project in over six years. In the ‘90s and ‘'00s, there weren’t many filmmakers as acclaimed as Van Sant. The Portland-based director won the Palme d’Or in 2003 with “Elephant” and has helmed other notable films such as “My Own Private Idaho,” “Drugstore Cowboy,” “To Die For,” “Good Will Hunting,” and “Milk.”
Ever since 2008’s “Milk,” Van Sant has been in a creative slump; 2011’s “Restless” was a strangely schmaltzy departure, 2013’s “The Promised Land” didn’t hit the mark, 2015’s “Sea of Trees” got panned and booed at Cannes, and I wasn’t at all taken by his Joaquin Phoenix-starring “Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot.”
Van Sant has since dabbled in TV directing with this year’s “Feud: Capote vs The Swans” — helming six of the eight episodes. It was well-received by critics.
It should be mentioned that Van Sant was supposed to shoot “Killing Gawker,” starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, in the spring, but production has now been pushed back since Damon will be very busy during the first half of 2025 filming Christopher Nolan’s next film.
Production on “Dead Man’s Wire” is set to begin in early 2025. The script was written by Austin Kolodney. Elevated Films and Balcony 9 Productions are backing the project.