While his “Faces of Death” remains in limbo, New Regency has acquired the next film from Daniel Goldhaber (“How to Blow Up a Pipeline”).
Goldhaber will write and direct the project himself. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but sources describe it as a propulsive, character-driven thriller with a “socially combustible” premise exploring the theme of the 99% versus the 1%.
Goldhaber comes to the sale after co-writing and directing his remake of the cult classic horror film “Faces of Death,” which wrapped production in April 2023. The remake, spearheaded by Legendary Entertainment, is said to be a modern take on the premise of the 1978 original. Much like Goldhaber’s recent films, “Faces of Death” had a small budget, reportedly only $7M.
Based on what I’d previously reported, Legendary is not happy with how “Faces of Death” turned out, despite paying for reshoots and the film testing well. The project is now in limbo. “It’s too ‘experimental,’” one source said, and not the film Legendary expected Goldhaber to deliver. The studio is unwilling to put any more money into it and has so far refrained from offering it to buyers, without providing an explanation.
What’s even more curious is that “Faces of Death” was slated to premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, but Legendary pulled it without explanation. This, I’m told, has led to a communication breakdown between Goldhaber and the studio.
“Faces of Death” stars Dacre Montgomery, Barbie Ferreira, Josie Totah, and Charli XCX. It follows a female moderator of a YouTube-like site as she sorts through content unfit for the platform. She discovers a group on the website that appears to be re-enacting the murders from the original film. However, given the digital age of widespread misinformation, are these murders real, or are they deepfakes?
Goldhaber turned heads with 2022’s taut, tense, and terrific “How to Blow Up a Pipeline.” I was also a big fan of his 2018 breakout, “Cam” — if you haven’t seen that surreal, almost nightmare-like film, I highly recommend streaming it on Netflix.