Luca Guadagnino is obsessed in piling up all these projects into development. This obsession also comes with the inevitable news that he’s dropped out of a few of them — such as what happened with his “Scarface” remake and the Audrey Hepburn biopic, starring Rooney Mara.
With that said, it’s being reported that Guadagnino is set to direct Julia Roberts in a thriller called “After the Hunt” that has landed at Amazon MGM Studios. The script will be penned by Nora Garrett. It’s a hot package that is said to have had many bidders, but was finally snatched up by Amazon/MGM.
“After the Hunt” is described as an intense dramatic thriller about a college professor who finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues, and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.
It was just yesterday that Guadagnino announced that his next film would be “Separate Rooms,” starring Josh O’Connor. He’s set to shoot it in Italy.
Guadagnino is also going to be directing Bret Easton Ellis’ “The Shards” for HBO. He says a “Call Me By Your Name” sequel, with Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet, has been written. Finally, his upcoming adaptation of “The Lord of the Flies” is currently in development.
Suffice to say, there’s a lot going on in Guadagnino land. He recently split critics with the romantic gore-fest “Bones and All.” His “Challengers,” after much delay, will released theatrically in April and “Queer,” the William S. Burroughs adaptation, will most likely be landing at a major festival later this year.
His best films remain the back-to-back-back trifecta of 2010’s “I Am Love,” 2015’s “A Bigger Splash” and 2017’s “Call Me By Your Name.”
It gives me no pleasure to report that this is one of the worst films of Schrader’s career. Wooden acting, Jack Huston and Sofia Boutella are badly miscast, the script is dull, the photography is flat; nothing works.