It's been a pleasure the last few years watching Iranian-born director, Marjane Strapi, find so much critical success chronicling some of the most important experiences in her life and that of her family. The deeply personal and humorous Persepolis got robbed losing out to a cooking rat for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award back in 2007, and her upcoming film, Chicken with Plums, is already gaining some serious awards traction. But now she's looking to make the biggest move of her career yet, tackling The Voices, a psychological thriller from the writer of Paranormal Activity.
The Voices has been floating around for a couple of years, at one time with Mark Romanek in the director's chair and Ben Stiller set to star, but I think the dark material has kept it from getting a greenlight. Now with Satrapi coming aboard to direct the film based on a script by Michael R. Perry, Mandalay Entertainment has it on the fast track, with a production start slated for early next year. The film sounds kinda insane, like a twisted version of The Beaver, and follows Jerry Hickfang, an easygoing bathtub factory worker who murders his lover when things start to go bad. It's at that point he begins taking advice from his evil talking cat and benevolent talking dog on how to get away with the crime, all while leading him to salvation.
Anything that may put Satrapi further into the public eye is good as far as I'm concerned, but this sounds like some Donnie Darko-type stuff. We'll see how it turns out as casting is currently underway. Maybe Ben Stiller will come back? [Deadline]
