‘Dark Army’ Update: Director Paul Feig Is “Obsessed” With The Idea, Swears He Will Make The Movie
In September of 2019,word came outthatBridesmaidsandSpydirectorPaul Feigwould be writing and directingDark Army, a film which included original characters as well as characters from Universal’s roster of classic movie monsters. Now Feig has delivered an update about hisDark Armymovie, in which he says he’s “so obsessed with making that movie” but reveals that the studio seems to think it’s too expensive.
In an interview withCollider, Feig got candid about the status of the project, painting the picture of a studio that may be getting cold feet about the current budget level while seemingly suggesting that they may be able to find a compromise if he employs techniques he’s learning now on a different film:
“Oh,Dark Army. I love that project so much. I think the studio thinks it’s a little too expensive, perhaps. God as my witness, I’m gonna make that movie. I’m so obsessed with making that movie. One of the many reasons why I was drawn to doing this current Netflix [movie] is that there’s a lot of stuff I can work out in it, as far as effects and all that, that I can bring toDark Army. I love it. It’s one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. It’s one of my favorite lead characters I’ve ever come up with. So, fingers crossed that we will make it someday.”
The Netflix project he’s alluding to there is a fairytale fantasy calledThe School for Good and Evil, which sounds like it will require some serious visual effects work to bring to life. Feig intimates that he may be able to cut the costs ofDark Armyby applying those visual or special effects skills, which reminds me of when Jon Favreau dipped his toe into effects with films likeElfandZathurabefore stepping into a big, VFX-heavy project likeIron Man.
“What I love about monsters is they’re outsiders, it’s just the most extreme version of outsiders,” Feig saidpreviously, and concentrating on outsiders has been something Feig has done for practically his entire career, whether it was with the geeks in the now-belovedFreaks and Geeksor Melissa McCarthy’s under-appreciated analyst character inSpy.About a year ago, he providedanother brief updateonDark Army, stating that he was “not as interested in doing a horror movie as I am in doing a true monster film.” Color us intrigued.
