Of the many horror directors who burst onto the scene a decade ago, Alexandre Aja is one of my favorites.  I absolutely love High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, and Piranha*.  While I anticipate just about anything the man does, I have definitely lamented the fact that he has be stuck directing remakes for his past three projects.  I say “stuck” because literally every project he has been attached to since High Tension that is NOT a remake has fallen apart.  Thankfully, the cycle seems to have broken.  While he is still producing a spate of horror remakes**, it seems Aja’s own directorial course has changed winds to adaptations.

Aja’s “passion project” is an adaptation of the manga Cobra: The Space Pirate, a sci-fi adventure project which Josh told you about here.  Financing is finally coming together on that project, but in the meantime Alex has been locking for something else to direct beforehand.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, an adaptation of Joe Hill’s Horns will be that film.

Horns focuses on “a 26-year old man who wakes up with a massive hangover and discovers horns sprouting from his head.  He becomes convinced that their existence is tied to the unsolved murder of his girlfriend”.

I’m ashamed to say that I have yet to read the novel or either of Joe “Son of Stephen King” Hill’s other two books, despite owning all three of them.  Yet another thing to add to my winter “to do” list.  Considering the fact that the general consensus is that it is Hill’s best work to date, color me excited for Aja tackling the project.  It’s good to see him finally escaping the confines of the never-ending remake frenzy, which unfortunately seems to be the only surefire path for genre directors to take if they want to do a studio picture these days.

On a side note, Shia LaBeouf was reportedly a “lock” for the lead role earlier this year.  Considering his name was not a part of the announcement, I’m guessing that he is no longer involved.  Fine by be.  The Mandalay Pictures production is shooting for a late spring/early summer start date, with Aja intending to move straight into prep work on Cobra upon completion.  I won’t be too surprised if a replacement for “The Beef” is found fairly soon.  Until then, let the fancasting begin…

Source | The Hollywood Reporter

* – Mirrors was an entertaining misfire.  In hindsight, I think it probably would have turned out better if Alex had cranked up the atmosphere and weirdness of the concept.  I also really dug the Aja-produced P2.

** – He is producing the now-shooting Maniac redo, as well as revamps of Madman (for his writing partner/producer to direct) and Pet Sematary.  Paramount was gunning hard this past summer for him to direct the latter, but it looks like he’ll be remaining in the producer’s chair.