Last year, a really hot package hit the Cannes market — Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac were attached to star in “Flesh of the Gods,” a vampire thriller to be directed by Panos Cosmatos (‘Mandy”).
A year later, here we are again, the project has added Elizabeth Olsen alongside Stewart/Isaac, and is yet again set to hit the Cannes market. Best of luck to Cosmatos, and I really hope this film gets made because it sounds delightfully bonkers.
“Flesh of the Gods,” which is being described as “wildly commercial” and “wildly artful,” was written by Andrew Kevin Walker (“Se7en”), and based on a story by Cosmatos and Walker.
Per the producers, the story follows a married couple, Raoul (Isaac) and Alex (Stewart), who descend each evening from their luxury skyscraper condo and head into an electric nighttime realm of 80’s LA. When they cross paths with the mysterious and enigmatic woman (Olsen) and her hard-partying cabal, Raoul and Alex are seduced into a glamorous, surrealistic world of hedonism, thrills, and violence.
Cosmatos says the film is “Both propulsive and hypnotic,” and “will take you on a hot rod joy ride deep into the glittering heart of hell.” Sold.
The psychedelic visuals in Cosmatos’ 2018 film “Mandy” remain etched in my memory. He absolutely delivered on the potential he showed in his 2010 debut “Beyond the Black Rainbow” and then some. Recently, I asked around about another project of his, “Nekrokosm,” produced by A24, which is apparently still in the “early stages of development.”
Following “Air,” this is Affleck’s latest stint behind the camera. He has cast himself in the lead role, alongside Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, and Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”).