'Beautiful Girl' Horror From Pulitzer Prize Winner?
Filed under: Horror, Deals, Scripts
Whenever I hear about esteemed literary or cinematic figures dipping their toes into horror waters, I always picture them holding their noses as they're running to the bank to cash their checks. They know horror sells (as long as it's decent), and they know horror fans are uncommonly broadminded, so I always feel like they're invading our territory just to try and take advantage of us and make a buck. On the other hand, who'd think that a high-minded director like Stanley Kubrick could make a spooky picture, or that Martin Stinkin' Scorsese might have made a ghost story out of Shutter Island?
All that to say, I'm keeping an open mind about Michael Cunningham's original script for Beautiful Girl, "a scary genre thriller," according to Variety, about a "shy but brainy high school girl who returns for senior year after having slimmed down six dress sizes. She finds herself flirting with the handsome English lit teacher, but the mutual crush turns deadly when the teacher's obsession with the student compels him to exact maniacal revenge on everyone who was cruel to her." Screen Gems bought the rights to the script.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-14-2009 @ 8:09PM
Mr.R said...
Call me morbid but that idea sounds pretty cool, fatal attraction thriller ...could work, could work.
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6-15-2009 @ 12:30AM
MattyD. said...
Ok...so...although I haven't seen the film yet, the book "Shutter Island" is not really a ghost story. There is never actual ghosts. There may be psychological ghosts and issues, but it really isn't a ghost story. I just don't want people thinking it to be something it isn't. It's an AMAZING novel, and the film version by Scorsese looks to hit all the right notes, but I think it should be said that it's definitely a horror-suspense-mystery, but not a ghost story.
I have no idea why I felt the need to rant about that...but...yeah. As for this, I think that the premise sounds schlocky, but if it's written by Cunningham? I have high hopes.
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6-15-2009 @ 9:27AM
NP said...
Uh, yeah. Definitely keep an open mind about this Cunningham project. The man is very bright and has varied interests when it comes to his writing. He's not just slumming it for a big paycheck. He came to speak to a creative writing class I took waaaaay back when (after he had won the Pulitzer but before The Hours film adaptation had been released). He seems like a great guy with a lot of stories to tell/write.
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6-15-2009 @ 9:28AM
NP said...
p.s. I forgot to say that Cunningham had mentioned THEN, almost 10 years ago, that he had an interest in writing something genre/horror oriented, and that this didn't necessarily have to be un-literary, etc.