Fox has been trying to crack a remake of classic body horror The Fly for years now with little success. At one point they even got back together with David Cronenberg on developing what was then considered a sequel to his 1986 remake, but things fell apart because his approach (described as meditative) wasn't what Fox was looking for. So now they're trying something else by possibly handing the keys to this potential horror franchise to a young gun upstart, Sleight director J.D. Dillard.
Dillard isn't a household name by any means but Sleight, which has been described as an urban superhero origin story, picked up a ton of buzz on the festival circuit and hits theaters in a few weeks. Dillard would direct and co-write the script with writing partner Alex Theurer, and right now we have no idea what their plan is. WilLikely Fox and Blumhouse will want to just crank out an inexpensive genre film that can score a big opening weekend, but we'll see. Dillard doesn't strike me as someone who just churns stuff out.
Next up for Dillard is the horror-thriller Sweetheart, which stars Dope and The Flash's Kiersey Clemons. He's in pre-production on it now, again working alongside Blumhouse who acquired Sleight after it premiered at Sundance 2016. We could be looking at the start of a very long, lucrative relationship.
