‘Pop. 1280’: ‘The Favourite’ Yorgos Lanthimos to Helm Twisted Crime Drama!!!

Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite just took home seven BAFTAS and is up for ten Academy Awards at this weekend’s ceremony, so it should come as no surprise that the filmmaker has already lined up his next project. Per Deadline, the filmmaker will next head to the realm of twisted crime drama and political manipulations with an adaptation of Jim Thompson‘s Pop. 1280 for Imperative Entertainment.

While the book is said to be a longtime favorite for the filmmaker, there’s no denying the somewhat timely nature of the material. Published in 1964, the novel from the Killer Inside Me author focuses on another corrupt cop, but with a nastier sense of humor. Pop. 1280 centers on Sheriff Nick Corey, a self-serving man with an impossible appetite for indulgence who uses his knack for bringing out the worst in people to manipulate the folks around him and ensure he wins the next election.

Lanthimos will write, direct and produce. Element Pictures will produce with Imperative and Lanthimos, in association with Discovery Productions. Pop. 1280 will be the fourth collaboration for Lanthimos and Element Pictures’ producers Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney (Room), who worked with the filmmaker on The Favourite, Killing of a Sacred Deer, and The Lobster. Ryan Friedkin of Imperative Entertainment and John Alan Simon of Discovery Productions will also produce, with Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas of Imperative Entertainment, Micah Green and Dan Steinman of 30WEST, Elizabeth Karr of Discovery Productions, Ilene Feldman, and Jon Levin executive producing.

This kind of nasty dark comedy and twisted powerplay intrigue is right up Lanthimos’ alley as a filmmaker who has always drifted toward biting characters and cruel twists of fate, and it sounds like the perfect followup to the political machinations and sex comedy of The Favourite. I’m always going to be excited for a new Lanthimos film, but with this one, I’m particularly intrigued to see who he casts to play Nick Corey — a spectacular role for the right performer, and Lanthimos pretty much always finds the right performer. No doubt, there’s going to be a long line of talent eager to work with the filmmaker after The Favourite, but I certainly wouldn’t be mad if he turned to Colin Farrell once again.

Here’s the official book synopsis via Mulholland Books,

Nick Corey is a terrible sheriff on purpose. He doesn’t solve problems, enforce rules or arrest criminals. He knows that nobody in tiny Potts County actually wants to follow the law and he is perfectly content lazing about, eating five meals a day, and sleeping with all the eligible women.

Still, Nick has some very complex problems to deal with. Two local pimps have been sassing him, ruining his already tattered reputation. His girlfriend Rose is being terrorized by her husband. And then, there’s his wife and her brother Lenny who won’t stop troubling Nick’s already stressed mind. Are they a little too close for a brother and a sister?

With an election coming up, Nick needs to fix his problems and fast. Because the one thing Nick does know is that he will do anything to stay sheriff. Because, as it turns out, Sheriff Nick Corey is not nearly as dumb as he seems.

In Pop. 1280, widely regarded as a classic of mid-20th century crime, Thompson offers up one of his best, in a tale of lust, murder, and betrayal in the Deep South that was the basis for the critically acclaimed French film Coup de Torchon.

via Collider