There is no filmmaker on this earth that I’m more eager to see make another movie than Shane Carruth. Primer, Carruth’s first film, is a truly astounding piece of work that I happily claim as one of my favorites of all time*. It’s been six years now since Primer, and Carruth is long overdue for a follow up that simply hasn’t manifested.
There have been hints here and there that we’d be seeing something soon- Rian Johnson tweeted in September of last year that “Shane is alive and well and has a mind-blowing sci-fi script. Let’s all pray to the movie-gods that he gets it made soon.” Yesterday a website (pictured) was discovered that bore the title of Shane’s next script, A Topiary, though there was nothing to be found aside from the single page, and some alt-text (The Chorus is Warming Up). It also seems the website has been up and unchanged for awhile.
What’s most interesting is that The Playlist has revealed they have the script for A Topiary and seem at a loss at how to appropriately summarize or catalog it. I have no interest in spoiling the script for myself and you, but what can be safely communicated is that there is a prologue of sorts that is a quickly paced 30 minutes followed by the main story about ten small boys. From there it starts to sound appropriately conceptual…
“The boys are in possession of a mysterious black box called a “Maker,” which in turn creates mysterious white discs called “funnels.”…”
There is more, and The Playlist even reaches the point of calling it an “abstract arthouse take on Pokemon,” but this is sure to be the kind of film that simply must be seen and won’t easily boil down to a digestible synopsis. Also complicating the matter is that the film has been looking for funding for some time. Carruth has told Cinematical that the project has accumulated “powerful allies” but I don’t get the feeling that he’s got the money to start shooting yet.
It’s my hope that more news emerges soon, and that it’s all positive for the project.
*In fact, the short film that I produced as the culmination of my film degree is a direct descendant of Primer, and features both a character and a location named after Carruth.