Shane Carruth has directed just two films, and they were both exceptional: 2004’s “Primer” and 2013’s “Upstream Color.” It’s now been 11 years since his last film. Imagine having these two on your resume and never again making another film.
That’s what might happen as, after having been accused in 2020, by two ex-girlfriends, including filmmaker Amy Seimetz, of domestic assault, Carruth is currently laying low in his hometown of Dallas, Texas. As you would imagine, he is basically retired from filmmaking. That’s what a source in the Lone Star state is telling me. He’s back to his original trade, which was software engineering.
Of course, it wouldn’t be that difficult for Carruth to go back to his low-bugget brand of filmmaking — "Primer" cost $8,000 to make and Upstream Color was produced for $50,000, but it sounds like he really doesn’t care to make movies anymore. In 2020, even before his run in with the law, Carruth told IndieWire’s Eric Kohn that he was retiring from filmmaking.
Carruth’s passion project, the higher-budgeted “The Modern Ocean,” announced in 2015, was supposed to be his third film. It will likely never get made now. That’s probably why Carruth decided to release the screenplay online and fans have been digging into it ever since. I’ve read it, and it could have made for an incredible film — layered, ambitious and highly intellectual.
“The Modern Ocean” was set to star Anne Hathaway, Keanu Reeves, Tom Holland, Jeff Goldblum, Daniel Radcliffe, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Asa Butterfield. It was all ready to go, with some reporting hinting that it was in pre-production mode back in 2018. The whole thing fell apart soon afterwards and Carruth’s recent troubles with the law sealed its fate.
Carruth could have had some of his projects see the light of day, and he’s written many unfilmed screenplays, but eventually his growing bitterness towards the industry and resentment towards rejection have resulted in a dark downward spiral for him.
Last we heard from Carruth, he had posted online videos of him nailing a box of Cheezits to the wall with a crossbow — on the side of the fridge we could see post-it note drawings storyboarding “The Modern Ocean”.