I'm a big fan of Texas filmmaker Shane Carruth's mind-bending time-travel indie Primer, but for a while it looked like Carruth might never get around to making a follow-up. Back around the beginning of the year we told you that Carruth would be working on Rian Johnson's upcoming science fiction flick Looper, but that work would be on effects, rather than writing or acting. There have been rumblings of a project called A Topiary, which is supposedly going to shoot next year. Now, however, it seems there's another new Carruth movie in the works, a "romance/drama/thriller" called Upstream Color.
Chud is breaking the details about Upstream Color, although there aren't many of them at this point. The movie is currently casting in Carruth's home town of Dallas, where he also shot Primer. Unsurprisingly, Carruth will be writing and directing and Ben LeClair (Gentlemen Broncos) will be producing.
There are no plot details available at this point, although the site does list info on several of the film's characters from the casting notes:
Kris -- This is the lead part, and beyond involving a severe haircut change in the film, little is said beyond her being intelligent and plain.Other main roles include Wesley, a composer in his 50s who is also a farmer, as well as Evan, a guy who works in a record shop and sounds a bit like a psychopath.There are a few secondary roles up for grabs as well: two 12 year olds from the inner city, along with 16-year old name Phoebe and her grandmother Elise, who are described as being very similar souls.
It's not much to go on, but if you're a fan of Carruth, any information at all is exciting and unless Carruth hits one hell of a sophomore slump, his follow-up to Primer should be fascinating no matter what it's about.
A final bit of speculation: Chud mentions that the film's title could refer to "an esoteric biopharmeceutical term that describes impurities present early in the processing/manufacture of a chemical." If that made your brain hurt, just try watching Primer. It's the smartest time-travel flick I've ever seen, but you definitely can't let your brain idle while you're watching it.
Stay tuned to Cinema Blend for more news on Carruth and Upstream Color as we hear it.
