File this under S for Speculation for now, but the good folks over at Empire today received the potential scoop that Joel and Ethan Coen may have plans to make a “full-on horror film.” It’s an intriguing prospect, but with the Coens is anything ever that (Blood) simple?
Let’s weigh up the evidence.
Empire’s article states that, having popped into the magazine’s office to discuss the brothers’ latest Oscar nominated hit, True Grit, Ethan Coen was asked about what other projects he and Joel had up their collective sleeve. Questioned as to whether the duo would ever consider turning their hand to the horror genre, Ethan reportedly replied; “Funny you should ask, yes, we’re working on a couple of scripts now, one of which it would be fair to call a full-on horror movie. Frances McDormand is the monster.”
Judging by the fact that Frances is not only very pleasant, but also Joel’s wife, it’s safe to assume that the latter part of Ethan’s statement is a joke. But without being present to hear any pauses or tonal shifts, can we be so quick to write off the beginning of his response as well? Empire don’t think so, stating that “they believe him on the first part.”
If the suggestion proves an honest one, then there’s no guarantee that horror would be the brothers’ next move. However, Empire did find out which projects definitely won’t be. “Gambit [a remake of the 1966 Michael Caine title] was just a writing job,” Ethan told them, “it seems like the movie is going to get made but not by us.” And what about Old Fink, the Barton Fink sequel? “John Turturro is not old enough yet. And the whole thing may be more a thought experiment than a movie,” Ethan confided.
“We don’t really know what we’re doing yet; we’re working on a couple of scripts,” the writer-director concluded, which – as luck would have it – brings us right back to his statement about that potential horror project. Are there scares on the horizon of Coenville? With the brothers often filling their films with a unique combination of laughs, violence and human despair the idea definitely has legs… and perhaps they’ll be severed ones.
Source: Empire Online.
