Top 100 Most Anticipated Films of 2008: #56 Stanford Prison Experiment

#56. Stanford Prison Experiment
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writers: Talbott and McQuarrie 
Producers: Brent Emery, Mark Morgan, Guy Oseary, William Vince and McQuarrie
Distributor: Currently Seeking Distribution

The Gist: 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…

Fact: This at some point went head to head with a competing project The Experiment – an English-version remake of the German film that launched Oliver Hirschbiegel’s career. 

See It: Fascinating premise could extend itself to the prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib – it all depends if the treatment for the screenplay is sensationalist or not. McQuarrie creates what I deem as the ideal “films for guys” – he last directed the film The Way of the Gun and wrote Valkyrie (#83 on our top 100 list) – the Tom Cruise tentpole film for MGM. The mix could be political and profile testosterone gone wrong.

Release Date/Status?: Maverick films has this currently listed in the pre-productioin phase and because it boosts a large cast of male actors will need to tie up a lot of loose ends before setting a start date. An end of the year release would not be out of the question if the shooting starts sooner than later.