It's been nearly four years since we've heard anything about Jay Baruchel's adaptation of Random Acts of Violence, but it looks like the production is finally moving ahead - and possibly with Baruchel in the director's chair! The film is an adaptation of the comic created by Jonah Hex scribes (don't worry the DC comic, not the film) Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray about two comic book writers and their horror creation "Slasherman". When they take their new comic on the road, bodies start piling up in an all too familiar way, and they realize their creation has taken on a life of its own.
I recently had an opportunity to sit down for an exclusive chat with Baruchel about his delightfully eccentric new FX comedy Man Seeking Woman, and before too long we ended up talking about his upcoming projects. He talked about possibly stepping into the director's chair, the type of horror they're going for, some of the crew coming on board the project (including Hobo with a Shotgun director Jason Eisener), and said the script is one of the best things he's ever written.
Baruchel said they're hoping to shoot the film this year:
My writing partner [Jesse Chabot] and I adapted a graphic novel Random Acts of Violence. We have our financing and our leads, so it looks like I might get to direct that this year as well.
He also described the tone of the film's horror, touching on the meta nature of the plot, and calling it one of the best things they've ever written:
It's kind of a repurposing, a modern take on the slasher genre. It's not un-meta. Our villain is called 'the slasherman' and basically it's about two guys who write a comic book with this character, and as they're going out on this press tour they see somebody's killing people based on the ways that their killer killed in the books. It's very much about the nature of creativity, the cyclical nature of inspiration, murder as a form of creative expression, and also the wrong artistic journey of how someone can be swallowed whole by their own ideas. It's fucking crazy and I'm really really proud of it. It's probably one of the best things we've written.
Finally, he disclosed some of the exciting talent he's got coming on board as a part of the crew:
I'm really excited. We've got our composer, our editor, our DP. It's going to blow people's minds when people see the crew I put together. My friend Jason Eisener, who directed Hobo with a Shotgun, he's going to cut my movie. He doesn't cut other people's movies, he only edits his movies and he's going to edit mine. Bobby Shore, who shot Goon, is probably going to shoot it. Paul Jones, who did all our makeup effects on Man Seeking Woman - I'm going to guilt trip him into doing it. Matthew Good is going to compose it. It's just a really cool bunch of people."
Baruchel demonstrated his knack for horror with This is the End, a film I expected to laugh at, but never expected to be so saturated in genre flair. Paul Jones does great makeup effects, particularly practical prosthetic work (just check out Gorbachaka on Man Seeking Woman), and Jason Eisener's films always have a distinct feel. All in all, this is a group of creative talent I can get excited about.
