Production is set to begin in Italy next month on the psychological thriller BLACK BUTTERFLY, a film which will find Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Antonio Banderas playing out a scenario that sounds rather reminiscent of Stephen King's MISERY.
Banderas will play a character named Paul,
a down on his luck screenwriter who picks up a drifter (Rhys Meyers) and offers him a place to stay. However, when the deranged stranger takes Paul hostage and forces him to write, their unhinged relationship brings buried secrets to light.
Directed by Brian Goodman, BLACK BUTTERFLY is based on the 2008 French TV movie PAPILLON NOIR, which had the following synopsis:
Richard, a lonely, alcoholic, down-on-his-luck, divorced screenwriter, invites Jack, a mysterious vagabond, to stay at his woodland home while a serial killer preys on young women in the area. Could it be the vagrant? Or even Richard?
PAPILLON NOIR was written by Hervé Korian. Screenwriters Justin Stanley and Steve Hilts handled the BLACK BUTTERFLY adaptation.
Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi's AMBI Group and Silvio Muraglia's Paradox Studios are financing and producing the film. Also serving as a producer is Marc Frydman, with Mikael Wiren and Alexandra Klim executive producing.
The producers promise that BLACK BUTTERFLY will be a rollercoaster ride of suspense, twists and turns, and unrelenting drama and thrills. Who wouldn't like to see that?
Rhys Meyers