There’s something strange about the new horror-comedy Ready or Not (read my review), and it has nothing to do with the movie itself, and everything to do with the industry-shaking merger between 20th Century Fox and Disney.
Technically, that merger means the Fox Searchlight film about Grace (Samara Weaving), a woman who marries into a rich family who hunt her for sport on her wedding night, which has gory deaths aplenty, is being released by the family-friendly company that brought you The Lion King and Toy Story.
In a new Bloody-Disgusting interview with Ready or Not filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett, and Chad Villella, a.k.a. Radio Silence, and producer Tripp Vinson, we asked how they felt to make Disney’s first violent horror movie in recent memory.
They all laugh, and Vinson says: “Dream come true.”
“Yeah, it is a dream come true,” Chad Villella says. “Grace is a Disney princess, so there you go.”
“And with THAT quote they don’t release the movie,” Tyler Gillett laughs. “The snipers are positioned on the righthand side.”
All joking aside, Disney has been canceling Fox projects left and right, and Ready or Not hardly fits their brand. Even so, Radio Silence says the timing worked in their favor.
“I think that we were just ahead of the merger, probably by a series of like weeks,” Gillett says. “We were in production and pre-production before all of that.”
“And also, Searchlight has apparently been given a long rope,” Villella adds. “So they have been great. And it’s also weird because we are personally gigantic Disney fans, so there’s also a bit of, like, ‘Oh cool!’”
“Studio-wise those are two of our favorites, right? Disney and also Searchlight?” Gillett asks the group.
“Yeah, I think that represents the range of shit that we love pretty well,” Villella responds.
“I think we’re a good test case though,” Matt Bettinelli-Olpin adds. “I mean, look at them. They totally supported this movie. It’s totally outside of their box and we feel like we’ve had a tremendous amount of support from the entire company.”
“Tons,” Villella confirms.
“Well, what’s unique is that the movie is a risk for Searchlight as well,” Gillett reminds us. “They’ve never really been a part of this genre, specifically. Obviously Shape of Water is its own thing but this is very, very separate in terms of how it was made.”
Radio Silence is right, of course. It’s been over a decade since Fox Searchlight produced gory genre films like Ready or Not, back when they helped release The Hills Have Eyes, 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later. Other than that, the Fox Searchlight imprint has been mostly reserved for serious Oscar hopefuls, of which it seems Ready or Not probably isn’t…
“Wait, WHAT?!” Gillett exclaims, as Radio Silence collectively laughs.
“I mean look,” Gillett says. “This movie has been a risk within a risk within a risk. But I think the people that loved it have all loved it for the same reasons, which is why we’re sitting here doing press for the thing that actually somehow magically got made.”
You can see that magic film for yourselves in theaters this week!