Claire Denis in Talks to Direct Cannibal Crime Drama ‘The Soap Maker’ (EXCLUSIVE) – Variety
By
Nick Vivarelli
International Correspondent
Revered French auteur Claire Denis is in advanced talks to direct cannibalistic crime drama “The Soap Maker.”
The project, being shopped around at Berlin’s EFM, is an updated remake of Italian director Mauro Bolognini’s 1977 cult movie “Gran Bollito,” which starred Shelley Winters as a serial killer who cooked the bodies of her victims into soap, cake and cookies.
The English-language film is inspired by the true story of Italy’s Leonarda Cianciulli, who in the late 1930s and early ’40s murdered three local women in the central Italian town of Correggio and disposed of their bodies with chemicals — using what was left to make soaps, candles, cookies and cakes that she shared with people in her community.
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“The Soap Maker,” which is lead-produced by the Los Angeles- and New York-based Gerry Pass via his Chrome Entertainment shingle, is being packaged by CAA and has been pitched to prospective buyers at the EFM. (CAA declined to comment.)
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The project is being described as an elevated real crime drama in the vein of “Silence of the Lambs,” “Seven” and “Get Out,” with a decidedly dark tone and a psychological thriller feel. The plan is to shoot “The Soap Maker” on location in Italy.
Besides rights to the screenplay for Bolognini’s “Gran Bollito,” the producers also have rights to a diary that Leonarda Cianciulli allegedly wrote in the psychiatric prison were she spent the rest of her life after confessing her crimes. The apparent witchcraft Leonarda used to attract her victims will be accurately recreated from her asylum diary, according to the project’s promotional materials.
Denis — whose vast body of acclaimed work comprises “Beau Travail” (1999), “Trouble Every Day” (2001), “35 Rhums” (2009), Berlin Silver Bear winner “Both Sides of the Blade” (2022) and Cannes Grand Prix winner “Stars at Noon” — is gearing up to shoot her next film, “The Cry of the Guards,” with Tom Blyth (“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”), Mia McKenna-Bruce, Matt Dillon and Isaach De Bankolé.
In addition to Pass — who is behind upcoming horror film “The Hermit” starring Lou Ferrigno and Malina Weissman — “The Soap Maker” is being produced by Lucas Foster (“Ford v Ferrari,” “Crimson Tide”) and Salvatore Sclafani, who directed “The Hermit” and operates production company First Child.
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