Famed novelist Bret Easton Ellis and influential writer/director Paul Schrader have a film in pre-production called Bait. The film takes place at a high-end resort where, after being humiliated, an employee takes his revenge by leading the guests out to shark infested waters. High-end. Humiliation. Revenge. That definitely sounds like an Ellis story and one perfectly suited for a director like Schrader. A well matched pair, it should come as no surprise that the two, according to Ellis at least, are planning to work on another film after their collaboration - a film described as a micro budget L.A. noir where "nudity and acting are a must..."
The details of this newest collaboration are pretty thin at the moment as most of the information is coming from Bret Easton Ellis' Twitter account. As you can see below, yesterday the author mentioned how he was hoping to cast porn actor James Deen in either of two male roles for an upcoming indie film he's writing for Schrader to direct. Only a day before, the author mentions Taxi Driver hinting that he's obviously got Schrader on his mind, and with Bait on the way it stands to reason that this next collaboration isn't just wishful thinking on Ellis' part. It's also interesting that the writer would be watching the seminal Schrader-penned New York film while crafting his L.A. noir. And again, a few days before the Taxi Driver tweet, Ellis drops another hint at what to expect and why: he's thinking about James Deen to star. The porn actor has acknowledged all this on his own twitter account, while adding a simple "Party" in regards to the "full frontal naked banging guys and girls."
So, I guess we have two upcoming Bret Easton Ellis/Paul Schrader collaborations to look forward to, even if neither of their (film) work of late has been anywhere near the best of their respective careers. Basically, it's too bad neither seminal artist is still making seminal works. The problem with your work being labeled as capturing the zeitgeist means that, well, you are very susceptible to falling out of touch. The times they are a changin' and not everyone can keep up, especially those so ingrained in the culture of a previous moment. In fact, it's quite a shame that the pair didn't meet in their primes - Schrader making a name for himself from 1975 to '85 by writing Taxi Driver, Obsession and Raging Bull as well as directing Blue Collar, American Gigolo and Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters while Ellis wrote "Less Than Zero," "Rules of Attraction" and "American Psycho" between 1985 and '91. Are you excited for these two artists working together...twice?
