For all of the hype and excitement generated by Joe Dante’s so-called comeback with 2014’s Burying the Ex, the middling comedy horror proved to be a forgettable romp – one which pales in comparison to the director’s body of work. But before you get down and out about Dante’s recent misfortunes, Variety reports that the filmmaker is wasting no time in teeing up his next creative venture: a supernatural thriller known as Labirintus.
Penned by cult screenwriter and novelist Alan Campbell, the director’s latest foray behind the lens will whisk moviegoers off to Budapest, Hungary, following the spine-chilling tale of a paranormal investigator and psychiatric researcher who throw caution to the wind and explore the city’s more treacherous ruins. Settling on what is possibly the creepiest location in the entire country, Variety teases that Labirintus will see the ghost-hunting pair venture into “an abandoned subterranean Soviet research facility, hidden within Hungary’s Budapest Labyrinth, the dark twisting catacombs beneath Buda Castle.”
A claustrophobic thriller by design, Dante ought to be in his element with this one. Throughout the course of his glittering career, the director has ushered the likes of The Howling, the inimitable Gremlins and its sequel Gremlins 2, Innerspace, and Small Soldiers onto the big screen, and not since The Hole 3D in 2010 have we seen Dante reach the stylistic standard that the filmmaker set himself early on in his career.
With Goldcrest instated to lend financial support, it’s understood that Labirintus will slither in front of the cameras in spring, ahead of a release towards the tail-end of 2016. There’s no word on casting at this time, though with Dante’s place at the helm locked down, we expect it won’t be too long before the director’s settles on his paranormal investigator and psychiatric researcher.
