The Masque Of The Red Death | Sydney Sweeney set for A24 film

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Charlie Polinger will write and direct a ā€˜darkly comedicā€™ spin on The Masque Of The Red Death, with Sydney Sweeney set to star.


A24ā€™s The Masque Of The Red Death is set to go before cameras at some point this year and according to Deadline, Sydney Sweeney is top of the studioā€™s list to headline the project. Itā€™ll be the feature debut of Charlie Polinger, a New York filmmaker and theatre director.

Based on a dark short story from Edgar Allen Poe, The Masque Of The Red Death centres on a group of privileged nobles who lock themselves away for endless revelry while a plague decimates the outside world. Given Poeā€™s gothic horror style, you can imagine that not everything goes to plan for the wealthy partygoers.

Whether its Parasite, Triangle Of Sadness or The Menu, weā€™ve seen a surge of ā€˜eat the richā€™ films of late and The Masque Of The Red Death could be another entertaining entry in this blossoming genre. However, we wouldnā€™t expect the film to get too hung up on Poeā€™s short story, given that the upcoming A24 film is said to be ā€˜wildly revisionist and darkly comedic.ā€™

At the very least, that could mean a contemporary re-telling, perhaps aimed at a Gen Z audience. After all, the world that young people are set to inherit isnā€™t without its problems (this observation is not exclusive to this site), and a film using a single setting and the theme of class exploitation to explore those ideas could certainly resonate.

That would certainly explain Sydney Sweeneyā€™s casting, should she end up taking the lead role in he project. The actor is currently filming The Housemaid, Paul Feigā€™s latest thriller, due to arrive later this year. Sheā€™s also filmed a Christy Martin biopic, along with having several other projects at various stages of pre-production, including the title role in Edgar Wrightā€™s planned Barbarella remake.

Weā€™ll bring you more on this one as we hear it, but more tales inspired by Edgar Allen Poe would definitely be welcome. Netflixā€™s Poe-centered gothic adventure tale The Pale Blue Eye was a fun watch back in 2022 and since then, Mike Flanagan bought us a heavily-revised TV take on The Fall Of The House Of Usher, which actually included a spin on The Masque Of The Red Death.

Weā€™re keen to see what Polinger is cooking up, however, when the story gets the feature length treatment courtesy of A24.

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