Just one month after entering early talks to direct The Bringing, filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is backing away from the project after negotiations with Sony Pictures have stalled, according to Variety reporter Justin Kroll.

The project is loosely based on the mysterious death of Elisa Lam at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles. The young Canadian woman was found dead in the water tank on the roof of the downtown L.A. hotel in February 2013. A video was released which showed Elisa Lam exhibiting bizarre behavior in the hotel elevator, seemingly interacting with an invisible entity of some kind. The Cecil Hotel has previously been home to serial killer Richard Ramirez, a.k.a. The Night Stalker, and there have been several recorded suicides at the establishment.

Brandon Murphy and Phillip Murphy sold their spec script to Sony in a competitive bidding situation. The story follows a man who is investigating a death at the Cecil Hotel, and it isn't connected to Elisa Lam's specific story.

The director revealed last week that the next film he is shooting is I Walk with the Dead. No specific plot details have been released, but the thriller is said to contain a lot of sex. The filmmaker's Drive star Carey Mulligan was attached to the project at one time, but it isn't known if she is still involved. Polly Stenham is writing the script, although it isn't known when production will begin.