Alexandre Aja to direct The 9th Life of Louis Drax; Jamie Dornan to star

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Fresh off his film adaptation of HORNS, Alexandre Aja is moving a tad further away from horror into the realm of surreal fantasy – which is okay by us since we’re big fans of the man no matter what he does. It’s being reported that Aja will direct THE 9TH LIFE OF LOUIS DRAX, based on Liz Jensen’s bestselling novel of the same name. Miramax is producing.

Here’s the intriguing synopsis:

Louis Drax is a boy like no other. He is brilliant and strange, and every year something violent seems to happen to him. His psychologist is baffled, and his mother lives in constant panic. He has always managed to survive — to land on his feet, like a cat. But cats have only nine lives, and Louis has used up eight, one for every year.

On his ninth birthday, Louis goes on a picnic with his parents and falls off a cliff. The details are shrouded in mystery. Louis’s mother is shell-shocked; his father has vanished. And after some confusion Louis himself, miraculously alive but deep in a coma, arrives at Dr. Pascal Dannachet’s celebrated coma clinic.

Was the fall a mere accident? If anyone knows, they’re not telling. Until one day, still deep within his coma, Louis meets the bandaged figure who calls himself Gustave, and begins to tell his tale…

Jamie Dornan (pictured below), who will likely become a superstar early next year thanks to his role in 50 SHADES OF GREY, will star.

HORNS actor Max Minghella penned the screenplay and will produce the film alongside Tim Bricknell (The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Breaking and Entering) of Antcolony Films, Shawn Williamson (The Interview, 50/50) of Brightlight Pictures, and Aja.