Akela Cooper (Malignant, M3GAN, The Nun II) and singing sensation Janelle Monáe are teaming up for a horror movie based on the Greek legend of Medusa titled Don't Look.
In a brand new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Monáe revealed that Universal are also currently on board for the project as part of a first look deal with her film company Wondaland Pictures. Monáe also teased that Don't Look could be the first of many forays into horror:
I have my own TV and film company, Wondaland Pictures, and we are looking to have more conversations and partner with folks whose taste aligns with ours and with mine. Halloween gives me so many original IP ideas for horror films, psychological thrillers, science fiction, sci-fi worlds.
I have a film that I’m developing with Universal and Akela Cooper, who’s a fantastic writer. It’s based on the Medusa story and it’s called Don’t Look. I’m so excited about that. It’s going to be a horror film that, again, is a play on the Greek Medusa story. I have other original ideas. I’ve been developing characters with my SFX team for albums, for movies. I cannot wait until the moment comes where we have a script and we’re ready to shoot it.
Monáe is famously a huge fan of horror films, and is currently running down her top horror picks on Instagram to celebrate the Halloween season, as well as hosting AMC+'s FearFest. She also starred in 2020's Antebellum.
In the interview with THR, Monáe goes into her history with the genre and also reveals the slasher who got her into it:
I had the type of mom who wouldn’t let us watch nudity in films, but when it came to horror, psychological thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, she didn’t limit my watching. I really thank her because as a kid, it opened my imagination for what I could be and how I saw myself as a creative, as an artist, as a writer. I knew that I wanted to tell stories, and I naturally gravitated to the things that frightened me.
When I would look for books, I was always intrigued by the sci-fi, horror and fantasy sections. I wanted to explore that feeling of, “Why am I scared?” That has continued to this day. I’ve always gone after things that terrify me to conquer them, in a sense. It’s this constant dance I do with the genre and with Halloween specifically. I love that I get a chance to bounce back and forth between what scares me and what intrigues me.
Known for her razor sharp scripts and lashings of camp, Cooper is, of course, the ideal writer behind a project from such a horror lover, and we can't wait to see what this pair cook up together.
Despite her horrifying and culturally relevant source material, Medusa-dedicated horror movies have been few and far between, with the most famous perhaps being Hammer's The Gorgon and the 1981 Clash of the Titans, so it's about time the famous Gorgon had her time in the spotlight.
We'll bring you all the updates on Don't Look as they come slithering in.
