Nicholas Cage Stars in THE COLOR OUT OF SPACE; Richard Stanley to Direct
[featured art by Ludvik Skopalik]
Next month, production begins on a brand new adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novella, The Colour Out of Space.
SpectreVision and ACE Pictures announced today that principal photography will begin next month, with Richard Stanley set to direct and Nicolas Cage to star along with Joely Richardson, Tommy Chong, Elliot Knight, Julian Hilliard, and Q’Orianka Kilcher.
This will mark Stanley’s return to directing after a twenty year absence following his dismissal from The Island of Dr. Moreau in 1996. Since then, he’s written and directed short projects and documentaries, but no features. He’s perhaps best known for directing Hardware and Dust Devil. Stanley’s firing from Island, along with the other production woes, is chronicled in the 2014 documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau.
Color Out of Space reunites Cage with SpectreVision after their collaboration on the horror film Mandy, which has six Chainsaw Award nominations. The story follows the Gardner family after they move to a remote farm in rural New England. After a meteorite crashes in their front yard, changing the landscape with an otherworldly color, the Gardners realize this alien force is mutating life forms in the area. And that includes the Gardners.
SpectreVision partner Daniel Noah says in the statement, “Lovecraft is the dark father of modern horror, and we have been searching for an adaptation that captures the true scope of his cosmic dread for years. Richard Stanley – a wizard in his own right – will at long last bring Lovecraft’s humbling power to the screen unfiltered.”
Johnny Chang, CEO of Ace Pictures Entertainment, added, “ACE Pictures Entertainment is thrilled to finance and co-produce Color Out of Space, our second collaboration with SpectreVision. The adaptation by Richard Stanley is outstanding and unique, a perfect canvas for Nicolas Cage’s inimitable acting style. We are tremendously excited to continue our partnership with SpectreVision and their signature style of genre.”
The original novella was first published by Hugo Gernsback’s Amazing Stories in September 1927, and takes place west of Lovecraft’s favourite city: Arkham, Massachusetts. The story follows an unnamed narrator who works to piece together the story of what happened after the meteorite fell. It’s a tale of mutated vegetation, descents into madness, and alien visitation.
Cage could possibly play one of three characters, depending on how the story is told. He could be the narrator/investigator trying to solve the mystery of the meteorite; or he could be the local “crazy man” Ammi Pierce, who discovers the ghastly scene at the Gardner farm; or he could play Nahum Gardner, the patriarch of the family who falls victim to the dark alien forces that deprive the land of its life. Given that the press release makes no mention of either the investigator or Pierce, it’s likely that we’ll see sane Nic Cage progress to alien-influenced crazy Nic Cage.
A two-fer.
