Jackpot, the newPaul Feigaction comedy starringAwkwafinaandJohn Cena, is due on Prime Video next month, but Feig is already working on his next film. The thriller takes its inspiration from an unusual source: Netflix reality seriesWorst Roommate Ever. Feig talked about the new project with Collider’sSteve Weintraubat San Diego Comic-Con, and sketched out the plot of the as-yet untitled film:
It’s just a fun, crazyass story. I love the woman at the center of it. She gets caught in something because she’s a nice person and gets completely taken advantage of by this insane, insane dude.There’s a lot of chance for real thrills and real scares, but also some humor, too, which I’m always looking for. How can I make things fun, not necessarily comedy, but fun? I want all my movies to be fun, even if they get dark. If they get scary, I wanna be fun and kind of uplifting at the end.
Feig will make the new film withBlumhouse- and both Feig and Blumhouse are adept atdefying expectations, moving between low- and high-budgeted pictures, and delivering crowd-pleasers and edgier, boundary-pushing fare. When asked what the new film will be like, Feig elaborated:
We wanna push the boundaries. Definitely! I like really pushing stuff. You’ll see when you seeA Simple Favor 2. We pushed the boundaries on that one. I think that’s fun, and also, a lot of my movies lately have been on a pretty big budget. I like the idea of doing something on a smaller budget because it gives us the freedom to kind of do what we want and not have to check a lot of boxes for the overlords, if you will. But at the same time, I’m a commercial filmmaker; I’m not gonna make anything that I don’t think entertains an audience right down the middle. I just wanna push them a little bit.
Feig detailed the tone he’s going for in the new movie, which will be rated R:
It’s gonna be fun and scary. To me, it’s really partly in the spirit of those ‘90s movies, like theAshley Juddmovies and that kind of thing, but also with a modern twist on it, and just to really push it really far. I love doing R-rated. That’s my favorite genre to do because everything can be honest, and people can talk the way they talk, and you can shock people with stuff, and you don’t have to pull back. We really wanna go kind of nuts with this one.
When can we expect the new movie? Says Feig:
There’s a script. There’s definitely a script. We’re just doing rewrites on it right now, but it’ll go sooner than later…we’ll be prepping this year. We start shooting at the beginning of next.
What Other Movies Are About Roommates From Hell?
The “evil roommate” movie is a thriller staple. Classics likeSunset BoulevardandWhatever Happened to Baby Jane?have been spelling out the dangers of co-habitation since the Golden Age of Hollywood. The 1990s delivered some prime examples, includingPacific Heights, in which yuppiesMelanie GriffithandMatthew Modinerent out a room to deranged grifterMichael Keaton, and the ne plus ultra of evil roommate movies,Single White Female, in whichBridget Fonda’s search for a roommate leads her toJennifer Jason Leigh, who either wants to become her, kill her, or both. 2011’sThe Roommate, starringMinka KellyandLeighton Meester, plays off similar themes with an update for the millennial era.
WhileJackpotis due on streaming next month, Feig’s next movie, a sequel to the 2018Anna Kendrick/Blake LivelythrillerA Simple Favor,wrapped filmingearlier this year. He is also producing the upcomingEllie KemperTV seriesDrop-Off.
Paul Feig’sWorst Roommate Ever-inspired thrillerwill begin shooting early next year. Stay tuned to Collider for all of our San Diego Comic-Con coverage this weekend.
