I’m fine with whatever Paul Verhoeven wants to do. He can write a book about Jesus, make another Showgirls, whatever. I’m there. He’s earned a couple of passes. So THR reports that he’ll develop The Surrogate for Fox, with plans to direct, and I just say ‘bring it’.
The basis is a book by Kathryn Mackel in which a couple, unable to conceive, hire a surrogate mother to carry their baby. The woman, naturally, turns out to be insane. I thought Tina Fey already made this movie, but I’ll be happy to watch Paul Verhoeven take a crack at it.
Amazon’s description has this:
Kyle and Bethany Dolan reel from years of infertility, miscarriages,
and finally, a disastrous hysterectomy. They are desperate to find the
perfect surrogate mother to carry their last frozen embryo. Sable
Lynde, a computer genius with a dark history, is desperate to escape
her own inner demons, her dark past, and a dangerous loan shark. Sable
assumes the identity of a surrogacy candidate so perfect that the
Dolans welcome her into their family without reservation. As the
pregnancy progresses, the dangers of Sable’s deception escalate until
the unthinkable happens–Sable’s dark demons spill out into the Dolans’
lives–even as she lies in a coma.
What you need to focus on there is the word ‘demons’. Because Mackel’s other novels include Vanished, which is number one in the ‘Christian Chiller Series’ and a ‘faith fiction’ series called The Birthright Project. Add those sensibilities to Verhoeven’s, and suddenly I really hope this gets through development.
Meanwhile, is Verhoeven next making The Winter Queen or not? Once seemed like that was a lock for him to direct, but it’s still looking like it’s stuck in development.