Paramount has prevailed in a ‘bidding war’ to secure Over Asking, from Batwoman showrunner, Caroline Dries.
Paramount has come out on top in the race to secure the rights to Over Asking, an erotic thriller that is said to have sparked plenty of interest among several studios.
The script for Over Asking was written on spec by Caroline Dries, the showrunner of the now cancelled Batwoman series. Coming up with the idea and penning it without being commissioned to by a studio seems to have worked in Dries’ favour, given that Deadline is reporting that the rights to the script sparked something of a ‘bidding war’, with Paramount coming out on top.
The synopsis for the film goes as such: ‘The movie’s story focuses on the frightening aftermath that follows a chance encounter between a seemingly perfect couple and a powerful female attorney.’
It certainly sounds like a good set-up for an erotic thriller. “Frightening aftermath’ and ‘seemingly perfect couple’ are the right kinds of ingredients for the setup of a film in this genre, and while the erotic thriller may have dwindled in relevance since its heyday several decades ago, we’re still getting a regular drip feed of these kind of movies.
Last year’s Fair Play sparked a mini-debate online as to whether the film was indeed the provocative erotic thriller that it was billed as, while later this year we’ll be getting A24’s Babygirl featuring Nicole Kidman, another film that is being labelled as such. Both of the films mentioned use the idea of a powerful female character, something the logline of Over Asking also alludes to.
No director or casting is yet in place but given that Paramount has fought to acquire the script for this one, we’re hoping to see some interesting names get signed up.
Deadline reports that six studios including Amazon, Apple, Skydance, New Line and Sony were bidding for the project – and who knows, a high profile success here (following some starting momentum in the wake of Babygirl) could energise a genre which is largely overlooked these days. We’ll bring you more on this one as we hear it.
