Leslye Headland is gearing up to direct her third feature film. The “Bachelorette” and “Sleeping with Other People” writer-director is attached to helm “The New Neighbors,” Deadline reports. STX has optioned the spec, a “psychological revenge thriller” co-written by Headland, Allison Burnett (“Ask Me Anything”), and David Schickler (“Banshee”).
“The New Neighbors” centers on a couple who “move into an affluent suburban community only to find out that their enclave is filled with dirty secrets,” Deadline summarizes. The source compares the film to “Gone Girl” and “The Girl on the Train.”
Schickler reportedly wrote the original script for “The New Neighbors,” while Headland and Burnett provided revisions. The Gotham Group’s Lee Stollman and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein will produce, as will Matt Berenson. Headland and Schickler will serve as executive producers.
Headland is a playwright as well as a filmmaker. Her Sin Cycle Plays — “Assistance,” “Bachelorette,” “Cinephilia,” “Reverb,” “Surfer Girl,” and “The Accidental Blonde” — are an on-going series modeled on the Seven Deadly Sins. The seventh installment is still yet to come. She adapted “Bachelorette” into the 2012 movie starring Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, and Isla Fisher.
Her other writing credits include the 2014 remake of “About Last Night” and episodes of the FX series “Terriers.” Headland is also directing the pilot of TV Land’s “Heathers” reboot.
