Guillermo del Toro and Jennifer Kent are two major names in the world of genre cinema right now, with the former receiving heavy accolades and Oscar glory off the back of The Shape of Water, while the latter marked herself as an important talent to watch with 2014’s The Babadook. So to hear that the two of them are working together on “something scary” will surely be enough to induce squeals of excitement in many a horror fan.
Kent was recently over at the Sundance Film Festival to promote her new movie The Nightingale, where the Australian director told Bloody Disgusting that she and del Toro have a horror project in the works.
“Look, we’ve got something on the boil,” Kent said. “I’m not being secretive but I’m not sure I can talk about it. It’s something scary and I really admire him and his work. I think he’s a true artist so I’m excited to know more. We’re in early stages of that.”
The filmmaker’s comments on the matter reportedly end there, leaving us to wonder who’s doing what on the project, along with countless more questions.
Regardless, Kent is also currently involved in a TV series named Tiptree, a show based on the life and work of science fiction author Alice B. Sheldon, aka James Tiptree Jr. Speaking to Bloody Disgusting, the filmmaker offered a summary of this mysterious writer’s intriguing story:
“James Tiptree Jr. was this man who wrote these incredible short stories, science fiction stories and became in that sci-fi world at the level of Philip K. Dick or Ursula Le Guin, very, very successful. They were very violent stories, stories very prescient and very astute on human being and human nature but using aliens, foreign planets, dystopian worlds. No one knew who this man was or what he looked like. Then after 10 years, they discovered he was a 60-year-old-woman who lived in Virginia. Her life then became public.”
Kent went on to describe the biographical series as “a surreal abstract ride through her life,” adding that she’s really excited for people to know who Sheldon is.
It sounds like Kent has a fair amount on her plate right now, but before Tiptree or her del Toro collaboration come our way, The Nightingale is still making the rounds on the festival circuit, and while a release date hasn’t been set yet, early reviews suggest a worthy follow-up to The Babadook.
