The classic Edgar Allan Poe story The Masque of the Red Death is getting a new feature film adaptation from A24 and Picturestart, and Sydney Sweeney (Immaculate, Anyone But You) is in talks to star.
The movie is being written and directed by Charlie Polinger (F*ck Me, Richard) and the film is said to be a “wildly revisionist and darkly comedic take on the short story.”
Poe’s original story was published in 1842, and it’s a chilling allegory about humanity’s futile attempts to escape death. It follows Prince Prospero, who, alongside his wealthy courtiers, secludes himself in an opulent, fortified abbey to avoid a deadly plague known as the Red Death.
Within the abbey, the prince hosts a lavish masquerade ball in a series of vividly colored rooms, each symbolizing different stages of life. The revelry is interrupted when a mysterious figure, shrouded in garments resembling the plague’s symptoms, appears.
Prospero confronts the figure, only to fall dead, revealing that the figure is the embodiment of the Red Death itself. The guests, too, succumb, as the plague proves inescapable.
The tale was brought to the big screen in 1964 thanks to director Roger Corman, and it starred Vincent Price. I loved that movie.
Deadline reports that the new film will shoot this year.
Source: Deadline
