Katie Cassidy’s Mental Actioner The Scribbler Gets U.S. Distribution
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Science fiction is a genre that has, at least in the past 35 years or so, embraced women as heroes. We at GFR like to embrace females in any way possible (wink wink, nudge nudge), so it’s a wonder we haven’t yet talked about the upcoming adaptation of Daniel Schaffer’s 2006 graphic novel The Scribbler, starring Katie Cassidy (Arrow). You’ll be hearing more about it though, as indie distributor XLrator has acquired the North American rights to the New Artists Alliance film. Hopefully this female-powered, quasi-superhero flick can completely eradicate Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch from everyone’s minds once and for all.
The Scribbler is directed by John Suits (Family of Four) from a script written by Schaffer himself, who also wrote 2009’s similarly female-centric horror-comedy Doghouse. Apparently XLrator was as impressed with the film as Schaeffer was, as he said in a press release that the adaptation stays “true to the themes of the graphic novel while adding a wealth of visual treats I never even thought of,” while also saying “fans of Katie Cassidy may actually pee themselves when they get a load of her performance as Suki.” I mean, I want to love this movie as much as the next guy, but I don’t know if it’s worth having spontaneous bladder problems.
Cassidy plays Suki, a woman who is plagued by a host of different personalities that constantly playing tug of war with her mind. Doctors use an experimental treatment called the Siamese Burn in an attempt to combat her mental illness. The process involves electrical shocks to jolt the excess personalities from the brain. As the layers are shed, a new identity called The Scribbler begins to emerge, getting stronger as time goes by, to the point that Suki is afraid this is her true self.
In the comic, the visuals play their part in signifying Suki’s mental changes, and the Scribbler’s presence brings about shady imagery and a darker tone, so it’ll be interesting to see how Suits accomplishes this on the big screen. There are also a lot of backwards messages used, so be sure and have a mirror handy.
Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse), Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Gina Gershon (Bound) and former porn star Sasha Grey (Would You Rather?), provide Cassidy’s supporting cast. The film’s testosterone will be provided by Billy Campbell (The Rocketeer), Garret Dillahunt (Raising Hope), Kunal Nayyar (The Big Bang Theory) and Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos). It’s quite a talented cast, and a pretty solid and original premise. Which means it’s probably going to be terrible, right? Keep all your personalities’ fingers crossed.
Below is the second still from The Scribbler. With an expected release date coming in the fall of 2014, we’ll probably see some actual trailer footage before too 2014 is too old.
