Anna Daniels
James Wan, John Wick writer Derek Kolstad, and Transformers producer Don Murphy are combining their talents for Hunting Season, a new time travel movie based on a short story by late author Frank M. Robinson. The story is reminiscent of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, in that it’s set in a totalitarian society. Robinson’s short story was originally published in 1951.
THR has the news regarding Hunting Season, which James Wan will produce with partner Michael Clear via Atomic Monster, and Don Murphy and partner Susan Monford will also produce through their Angry Films. Derek Kolstad, whose writing credits include the John Wick films and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, penned the script based on Frank M. Robinson’s short story.
The film will focus on “a law officer from the future who is declared an enemy of the state and sentenced to be executed by that society’s method of choice: sent to the past where they are stalked by a posse. The man has three days to acclimate to our time and find a way to survive.” The short story synopsis has some more detail:
In this militaristic society of tomorrow, subversives are sent back to past ages where aristocrats hunt them for sport. Usually, the hunted are members of the lower classes. But when an aristocrat is condemned to be hunted in mid-twentieth century America, the entire fabric of society comes unraveled.
The short story was first published in Astounding Science Fiction Magazine in 1951. Robinson has a whole list of published works to his name, including The Glass Inferno, which served as the inspiration for The Towering Inferno. He was also a speechwriter for politician Harvey Milk, and had a cameo appearance in the film Milk. Robinson died in 2014.
Hunting Season seems to have a little bit of a Looper vibe, mixed with The Most Dangerous Game. I dig it. There’s no director attached yet, but as is always the case when a new Wan-produced project is announced, I say: let James Wan direct it. If he wants to, that is. He might not, since he’s a busy guy. Wan’s return to horror filmmaking, Malignant, was originally supposed to open this summer, but has been delayed due to the coronavirus. Wan is also attached to direct Aquaman 2.
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