Phil Lord & Chris Miller To Produce A Bear-Driven Horror Comedy From ‘Ready Or Not’ Directors
Man has battled nature on the big screen for decades. But rarely has the fear of coming face-to-face with some of nature’s most deadly beasts been dealt with in both a horrifying and hilarious way. That’s about to change withSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseproducersPhil LordandChris Millerteaming up with the directing duo behind the bloody, fun thrillerReady or Notfor a currently untitled movie described as a " unique bear-driven horror-comedy — with heart." Uh, what?
The Hollywood Reporterhas word on the spec script written byJimmy Warden(a former production assistant on Lord & Miller’s21 Jump Street) being picked up by Universal Pictures. Lord & Miller will produce through their first look deal at the studio and collaborate with theReady or Notfilmmaking team known asRadio Silence, which consists of directorsMatt Bettinelli-OlpinandTyler Gillett, as well as producerChad Villella. Also producing will be Lord Miller presidentAditya Sood, who found the script, andBrian Duffield.
There’s no official logline, but the movie was apparently pitched as a cross between this year’s R-rated comedyGood Boysand the survival thrillerThe Revenant. That sounds like we’ll probably see a group of young boys lost in the woods and forced to reckon with a deadly bear. Hopefully it turns out better for them than it did for Leonardo DiCaprio. Hopefully the kids won’t have to be as dedicated to method acting as the leading man, who finally won a much sought after Oscar for his method work on the movie.
This has the potential to be something great. Personally, I’m excited to see an original idea. Sure, the pitch sounds as simple as bridging two movies together, but that’s how Hollywood likes to process original ideas so they know how to sell it. The real magic will come from the script, and even though Warden may be untested as a writer, he’s currently developing some projects over at Paramount Pictures and Margot Robbie’s Lucky Chap production banner.
For me, the most attractive part of this new project is that it grabbed the attention of Lord & Miller as producers. The duo has produced and directed some game-changing movies like21 Jump Street, which changed what a big screen adaptation of an old TV show could be;The LEGO Movie, which defied the odds by somehow being imaginative and fun when it could have been a boring cash grab; andSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, easily one of the best and most innovative superhero movies ever made. So if Jimmy Warden’s script caught their eye, we’re fully on board. Stay tuned for more.
