Jay Baruchel looking to helm adaptation of Random Acts of Violence this year

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

It was way back in 2011 when we first got word that THIS IS THE END star Jay Baruchel was making the jump from comedic actor to horror scribe with the adaptation of Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray's comic book RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE. Baruchel has been quite busy since that initial report, appearing in several films and continuing his writing career, but it seems he's close to making RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE happen soon, and it seems he'll be sitting in the director's chair as well.

Collider recently caught up with the actor/writer, where Baruchel talked about the possibility of stepping into the director’s chair, the type of horror they’re going for, and revealing some of the crew coming on board the project.

RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE follows…

… two comic book writers and their horror creation “Slasherman”.  When they take their new comic on the road, bodies start piling up in an all too familiar way, and they realize their creation has taken on a life of its own.

Baruchel revealed that they’re hoping to get RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE in front of the cameras this year:

My writing partner [Jesse Chabot] and I adapted a graphic novel Random Acts of Violence.  We have our financing and our leads, so it looks like I might get to direct that this year as well.

He goes on to reveal a few details about the project, stating…

It’s kind of a repurposing, a modern take on the slasher genre. It’s not un-meta. Our villain is called ‘the slasherman’ and basically it’s about two guys who write a comic book with this character, and as they’re going out on this press tour they see somebody’s killing people based on the ways that their killer killed in the books. It’s very much about the nature of creativity, the cyclical nature of inspiration, murder as a form of creative expression, and also the wrong artistic journey of how someone can be swallowed whole by their own ideas. It’s fucking crazy and I’m really really proud of it. It’s probably one of the best things we’ve written.

He also revealed that he's already in the process of putting together a team to make the film happen, including HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN's Jason Eisener. Baruchel says…

I’m really excited. We’ve got our composer, our editor, our DP. It’s going to blow people’s minds when people see the crew I put together. My friend Jason Eisener, who directed Hobo with a Shotgun, he’s going to cut my movie. He doesn’t cut other people’s movies, he only edits his movies and he’s going to edit mine. Bobby Shore, who shot Goon, is probably going to shoot it. Paul Jones, who did all our makeup effects on Man Seeking Woman – I’m going to guilt trip him into doing it. Matthew Good is going to compose it. It’s just a really cool bunch of people.”

While I've never read the comic on which the film will be based, RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE certainly sounds like it could be a fun horror flick. I'm curious to see if Baruchel and company can make it happen this year. We'll keep you posted.