Issa López’s profile continues to rise. The award-winning “Tigers Are Not Afraid” filmmaker has been tapped to write and direct “Lost Souls” for Fox Searchlight. Deadline broke the news.
Set in a world in which some babies are born without souls, the pic sees a young expectant mother “sent to an unusual wellness center in the desert, with the hopes that it will improve her chances of delivering a healthy baby,” the source summarizes.
The feature is based on Matthew Baker’s short story of the same name.
López was named Best Director in the Horror Category at Fantastic Fest 2017 for “Tigers Are Not Afraid.” Shudder released the dark fable, which is set against the backdrop of Mexico’s drug wars.
“My first paid job in the business was writing and directing segments for the Mexican ‘Sesame Street,’ López has said. “Eventually I moved on to write soap-operas, or Telenovelas, as they are known in Mexico. Terrible job, but quite the school for writers. It took me around five years to find my way into movies: writing romantic comedies. It took a while to convince producers I could direct myself, and that I didn’t want to direct the rom-coms I was known for, but very caustic comedies. I directed two of these. I know, nothing of this seems to lead to ‘Tigers,’ but actually, it did: genre has always been my passion, and so many years, pages, scenes without it pushed me into going full-fantasy, full-grit with ‘Tigers.'”
The Mexican filmmaker is also signed on helm “Three Sundays,” a love story set in New York’s banda music scene, for Paramount Players.
