Nicolas Winding Refn’s horror movie I Walk With the Dead finds a screenwriter

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Nicolas Winding Refn fans fall into two groups: those who unabashedly love his films and those who think he just comes up with really good titles. I myself love his movies and his titles and look forward to each new project he is linked to. One of those upcoming movies is the cool sounding I WALK WITH THE DEAD. Before you get all exicted that Refn is making a zombie film, just know that it is a horror movie but no other details are known yet.

I WALK WITH THE DEAD currently has a leading lady in Carey Mulligan and has just landed a new screenwriter to help refine the all female horror movie. British playwright Polly Stenham has been brought in to help craft the story for Refn, who typically writes his own films. Why a female writer? Stenham herself explains:

“He’s got a lot of stick for doing films some people think are violently misogynistic,” Stenham tells me. “So he approached me with the idea of doing something different.”

Looking back over his films, Refn does have a very male-focused resume: PUSHER, VALHALLA RISING, DRIVE, and ONLY GOD FORGIVES have female characters but are entirely focused on what the men have to say and do to survive. Even the great turn by Kristin Scott Thomas in ONLY GOD FORGIVES is less a female role than a male part played by a woman.

The prospect of Refn working on a script by a woman with an all female cast is intriguing. I am very excited to see what this may turn out to be. But, despite Refn saying I WALK WITH THE DEAD is his next film, he is also tied to several other projects including a BARBARELLA television pilot, we will wait and see when this happens.