I'm always down for anything from the imagination of Guillermo del Toro, and his next project is assembling quite the cast. According to THR, Toni Collette (HEREDITARY) has joined the cast of NIGHTMARE ALLEY, Del Toro's upcoming adaptation of the William Lindsey Gresham novel of the same name.
Set in the world of carnival hustlers and con-men, NIGHTMARE ALLEY tells the story of a mentalist (Bradley Cooper) who teams up with a psychologist in order to fleece wealthy patrons, but she soon turns the table on him, out-manipulating the manipulator. Toni Collette is set to play a mentalist named Zeena who mentors Bradley Cooper's character. "Guillermo is a true auteur," Collette said in a statement. "I look forward to collaborating with him and the amazing cast he has already assembled. What an honour." In addition to Cooper and Collette, NIGHTMARE ALLEY will also feature Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett, and THR adds that both THE SHAPE OF WATER's Richard Jenkins and Michael Shannon are circling roles in the film as well. Guillermo del Toro will direct from a script he co-wrote with Kim Morgan, and in what will be a bit of a departure from his previous work, Del Toro has said that NIGHTMARE ALLEY won't be dealing with the supernatural.
Well what it is is that book was given to me in 1992 by Ron Perlman before I saw the Tyrone Power movie, and I loved the book. My adaptation that I’ve done with [co-writer] Kim Morgan is not necessarily—the entire book is impossible, it’s a saga. But there are elements that are darker in the book, and it’s the first chance I have—in my short films I wanted to do noir. It was horror and noir. And now is the first chance I have to do a real underbelly of society type of movie. [There are] no supernatural elements. Just a straight, really dark story.
Production on NIGHTMARE ALLEY is expected to get underway early next year in Toronto. Toni Collette will next be seen in KNIVES OUT, Rian Johnson's star-studded whodunit, on November 27, 2019. The film recently premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and you can check out our own Chris Bumbray's review right here.