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McQuarrie takes part in ‘Stanford’ study
It has been a while since we last heard of writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, his directorial debut Artisan’s Way of the Gun was a fun little romp best enjoyed when not taken seriously and his claim to fame is of coursehaving scribed the cult fav. The Usual Suspects. Finally after a couple of years of invovlement, Variety annouced that Maverick Films has set him to direct his second feature with an April start date. Maverick’s Mark Morgan and Brent Emery will produce with McQuarrie. Guy Oseary and Tara Pirria are exec producers.
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It has been a while since we last heard of writer/director Christopher McQuarrie, his directorial debut Artisan’s Way of the Gun was a fun little romp best enjoyed when not taken seriously and his claim to fame is of coursehaving scribed the cult fav. The Usual Suspects. Finally after a couple of years of invovlement, Variety annouced that Maverick Films has set him to direct his second feature with an April start date. Maverick’s Mark Morgan and Brent Emery will produce with McQuarrie. Guy Oseary and Tara Pirria are exec producers.
This is based on the real-life events surrounding the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Stanford professor and former president of the American Psychological Assn. Philip Zimbardo. In the study on the psychology of prison life, a group of undergrads assumed the roles of prisoners and guards. Within 24 hours the guards resorted to psychological torture and humiliation – including sexual degradation – of the inmates, who in turn staged an uprising, instigating more terror. Originally planned as a two-week study, the experiment was abruptly discontinued after six days when it became clear that things were out of control. Four students had emotional breakdowns and had to be released; one developed a psychosomatic body rash. McQuarrie and Tim Talbott wrote the script.
Like the recent In Cold Blood biopic challenge (Miller’s Capote versus Douglas McGrath’s Infamous) and the current Daniel Pearl duel Tod Williams’ Who Killed Daniel Pearl? vs. Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart, the Stanford experiment was already the subject of a great German thriller and will also become a contest as well. The excellent original film starring Run Lola Run’s Moritz Bleibtreu and featuring the filmmaking abilities of Oliver Hirschbiegel should have been good enough for world audiences, but English speaking audiences will see the 11-million dollar project from McQuarrie go up against the to be shot in spring
The Experiment to be directed by Paul Scheuring (television’s Prison Break).