scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay hasn’t delivered a feature since 2017’s fantasy thriller”You were never really therefeaturing the Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix as a moody/violent veteran tasked with finding a lost girl. So we’re quite curious to know what’s going on with the various movies Ramsay has been developing over the past couple of years, and luckily she’s been giving us some fresh updates on the situation.
ALSO: ‘Die, My Love’: Lynne Ramsay to direct Jennifer Lawrence in new drama produced by Martin Scorsese
Ramsay recently spoke at the Doha Film Institute Qumra (via Screen Daily), where she gave an update on her upcoming thriller “Stone mattress.” A feature film adaptation of Margaret Atwood (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) short story with Julianne Moore And Sandra Oh attached for the lead roles. The thriller centers on a woman who goes on a cruise through a frozen region and encounters a man who raped her 50 years ago. While nothing is set in stone, pun intended, Ramsay hopes everything lines up and she can snap the Artic-set shot (potentially using Greenland as a location) later this year.
“It’s such a challenge, this film, because it’s a boat in the Arctic – it [needs] all the pieces line up,” Ramsay said of his potential next film. “I’m going to shoot it soon, but it’s still to be confirmed. With boats, it’s a matter of logistics. I will never make a movie in a boat again!
Deadline mentions that she has a male lead in mind but isn’t ready to name them in case they can’t, “I don’t want to put him on the spot right now, in case he doesn’t. not available.”
Producer Martin Scorsese and actress Jennifer Lawrence (“Pavement“) work with the acclaimed director on “Die, my love”, an adaptation of by Ariana Harwicz novel about an isolated woman in the French countryside who loses her mind between marriage and motherhood. Ramsay spoke about the “motherhood horror” project to Screen Daily and made it clear that it would be a lot easier than trying to make a movie on a boat.
“It’s something I’m working on. It’s super interesting and really daring material,” Ramsay said. “I’m really excited about [it]. I love to write too, so I’m sort of getting into it right now. There is a beautiful simplicity with ‘Die, My Love’ which I really liked; it’s easier than a cruise.”
It’s currently unknown whether “Stone Mattress” or “Die, My Love” will shoot first, and Ramsay said (via Deadline) that she still isn’t sure.
In the meantime, “Polaris”, an original feature film script that Ramsay is developing to star both Joaquin Phoenix And Rooney Mara still on the table, but she’s not ready to share any details about it just yet. “It was a project we’ve wanted for a long time – it’s an original script, and I’m really excited about it,” Ramsay said. “They have a lot going on, but it was originally for these two.” Pressed for more details, she just laughed and said, “I’ll just wait to show you.”
The filmmaker had also developed a sci-fi version of the classic maritime tale “Moby-Dickand states that it didn’t take off due to budgeting. However, it’s “not dead in the water” but “has always been one of those projects on the back burner”. Not excluding to come back to it all along the line.
“It’s a question of budget,” said the director of her long-gestating sci-fi film. “There were plenty of great ideas that emerged, but over time something just takes you one way or another; I guess you still have that bank of projects bubbling around in your mind.
There are plenty of movies on the director’s horizon, and we can’t wait to see more work from Lynne Ramsay soon.