Zachary Quinto‘s production company, Before the Door Pictures, will partner with Sunchaser Entertainment and German producer Christian Arnold-Beutel to produce the elevated horror feature The Banshee Chapter. Interactive and transmedia director Blair Erickson wrote the screenplay and will make his feature directorial debut on the project.
The film, set to begin principal photography shortly in New Mexico, centers on a young female journalist who follows the trail of a missing friend who had been experimenting with mind-altering chemicals developed in secret government drug tests. A fast-paced blend of fact and fiction, The Banshee Chapter is based on real documents, actual test subject testimony and uncovered secrets about programs run by the CIA. “We’re excited to branch out in our storytelling,” said Quinto in a press release. “We’ve produced a movie about the financial crash and an innovative, grounded romantic comedy. The Banshee Chapter is an opportunity for us to tackle another film with its roots in reality, but through the lens of horror.”
The first film of which Quinto speaks, J.C. Chandor’s directorial debut Margin Call, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and is an unaffectedly smart, tightly wound little human drama that engagingly tells a big story through a small, focused lens. It releases to theaters in late October. For an older interview with Quinto, meanwhile, click here.