Dee Rees’ next project will be a horror film exploring domestic life, race, sexuality, and small town America. Originally reported by the New York Times, the Tracking Board and Shadow and Act have confirmed that Rees is collaborating with “Get Out” producer Jason Blum on a horror movie about a black lesbian couple living in a rural town.
According to the Times, the “Pariah” and “Bessie” director informally pitched Blum the idea, which is inspired by her own life. Rees told Blum about her move to a small town: “You’ve got me and my wife, two black lesbians, and when we first moved in, we fought every day over all these little things: ‘Why is this over there? Did you move that?’”
“Maybe it was a ghost,” she observed. “Or maybe it was some other force — like us not wanting to be there or fitting in.”
Blum was intrigued by the pitch and followed up with her. Rees said that she is ready to “make the best possible version of what I want to make.”
“Visibility is great because it shows other African American women they can be whatever they chose to be. But for me, the story comes first. If I’m visible fine, but I really want the story to come first,” Rees told us, referring to opportunities for black women directors. “I stand on a lot of shoulders: Euzhan Palcy, Kasi Lemmons, and Julie Dash. It was great to be pursuing my dreams and hopefully I’ll build a body of work and I will be among them one day.”
Rees’ latest film, “Mudbound,” earned rave reviews when it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Set in post–World War II South, the drama centers on two families facing racism and poverty. “Mudbound,” which Rees co-wrote with Virgil Williams, sold to Netflix for $12.5 million — the biggest deal of Sundance 2017. It stars Carey Mulligan (“Suffragette”), Jason Clarke (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Jason Mitchell (“Straight Outta Compton”), Mary J. Blige (“The Wiz Live!”), Rob Morgan (“Stranger Things”), Garrett Hedlund (“Inside Llewyn Davis”), and Jonathan Banks (“Better Call Saul”).
“Mudbound” doesn’t have a release date yet, but is expected to debut sometime this year. Most recently, Rees has helmed two episodes of “When We Rise,” an ABC miniseries chronicling the gay rights movement in the U.S.
