An untitled film led by Jenna Ortega, Barry Keoghan and The Weeknd is said to be a loose remake of the 1990 thriller, Misery.
We’ve known for a little while that filmmaker Trey Edward Shults is cooking up something interesting for his next film, but according to reports, he may actually be tackling a ‘loose remake’ of Stephen King’s Misery. King’s 1987 novel got a classic adaptation from director Rob Reiner in 1990 – it’s the one where a crazed fan keeps her favourite writer hostage, forcing him to rewrite his stories to suit her tastes.
The cast that the It Comes At Night and Krisha filmmaker has assembled for the project already made a few waves when it was first announced: both Barry Keoghan and Jenna Ortega are very much in demand at the moment. Music star The Weeknd (aka Abel Tesfaye) is also set to appear. And while his star may be shining a little less brightly after the severe and sustained critical drubbing given to the TV show The Idol, interest will be high to see if he can reignite the momentum of his burgeoning acting career.
World of Reel has published the report, with the outlet claiming that one unnamed source has already verified the rumour with another close to confirming it too.
According to the story, ”Shults’ film is a loose remake of Rob Reiner’s 1990 film, Misery. In it, The Weeknd plays himself, a famous singer, and Ortega plays his deranged fan/stalker. To make things more curious, last summer Ortega posted a shot of the house being used during production, and it’s practically the same one as in Misery.’
The 1990 take on Misery remains one of the more beloved adaptations of King’s work. Kathy Bates and James Caan memorably played the crazed fan and author respectively, with Reiner directing a screenplay by the eminent William Goldman. Bates would go on to win an Oscar for her performance as Annie Wilkes, a nurse who imprisons her writing idol.
The story also suggests that The Weeknd may play himself or at the very least, base his character very much on his own life and career.
For example, according to the outlet, the ‘still-untitled film would also begin with an infamous, real-life incident that occurred to The Weeknd in 2015, when he lost his voice during a concert in Los Angeles – he managed to get through four songs before he had to cut the show short.’
The project wrapped production last year, so it’s almost certain that we’ll see it at some point in 2024. At the very least, we probably won’t have to wait too long to get official details on the project, including its title and an official synopsis. We’ll let you know more as we hear it.
Podcast: Armageddon (1998) and Misery (1990)
