Screenwriter Anthony Jaswinski has been on a roll lately following his hit film, The Shallows, which featured Blake Lively vs shark and made a killing at the box office. And now we have word that Lionsgate is in final negotiations to acquire his vampire spec script The French Quarter Will Not Be Spared. As you might imagine at this point in time, the details regarding the plot of the screenplay are being kept under tight wraps. But that said, we do know that the film is a new take on the vampire genre set in New Orleans, get this, during hurricane Katrina. Interesting.
More interesting still is that the powers that be behind the scenes of this new vampire-during-hurricane flick is that the goal of the production is to make a "visceral and socially relevant horror film" in the vein of John Krasinski's A Quiet Place and/or writer-director Jordan Peele's Get Out.
The film will be a co-production between Kenya Barris' Khalabo Ink Society and The Picture Company, who just wrapped shooting on Amblin and writer-director Jacob Chase's upcoming horror/thriller Larry starring John Gallagher Jr., Gillian Jacobs, and Azhy Robertson. The Picture Company is now prepping Big Bad Wolves directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado's new action/thriller boasting the kick-ass title, Gunpowder Milkshake. Kenya Barris will produce along with The Picture Company partners Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman. Josh Feldman will oversee for Khalabo Ink Society.
Anthony Jaswinski is best known for scripting the sleeper shark hit The Shallows, sure, but on top of that hit flick, Jaswinski is also known around the horror community for penning the scripts to such mini-classics as Jeffrey G. Hunt's Satanic starring Sarah Hyland, Oliver Blackburn's Kristy starring Haley Bennett and Ashley Greene, Brad Anderson's Vanishing on 7th Street starring Hayden Christensen, John Leguizamo, and Thandie Newton, and the lesser-known fright flick, Marty Weiss' Backwoods starring Hilary Duff's sister, Haylie Duff.
For those that may need a refresher course, The Shallows featured Blake Lively as medical student Nancy Adams, who is still reeling from the loss of her mother, and travels to a secluded beach for some much-needed solace. Despite the danger of surfing alone, Nancy decides to soak up the sun and hit the waves. Suddenly, a great white shark attacks, forcing her to swim to a giant rock for safety. Left injured and stranded 200 yards from shore, the frightened young woman must fight for her life as the deadly predator circles her in its feeding ground."
The 2016 survival thriller was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop, Orphan), from a screenplay written by Jaswinski and starred Blake Lively and a killer CGI shark. It was good times. Filmed in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, the film was released on June 24, 2016, by Columbia Pictures and received generally positive reviews, grossing over $119 million on a relatively meager budget of $17-25 million. Let's hope that Jaswinski's new script, The French Quarter Will Not Be Spared, is more in line with The Shallows than say, Backwoods. But I guess we'll see one of these days. Thanks to Deadline for sharing!