The boys over at Dread Central got word today that Tony Kaye (of AMERICAN HISTORY X fame) is no longer directing Media 8’s REAPER. Kaye has been out of the Hollywood spotlight for a while now, directing commercials after AMERICAN HISTORY X was released to some controversy behind the scenes (Norton and Kaye had a little disagreement with the amount of screentime Norton got, to which Norton re-edited the film to lengthen his time).
Written by Gary Whitta, REAPER is the story of an ex-private investigator dying of cancer who is making every effort to find his abducted daughter before he croaks. He strikes up a deal with Death itself: if he’s allowed to live just a little bit longer to find his kid, he promises to find a few rogue souls who managed to cheat death (sort of like the TV show The Collector, except more in line with ANGEL HEART, SE7EN, and BLADE RUNNER). Media 8 first attached Kaye to the project over the summer. Recently at the American Film Market earlier this month, Kaye was quoted as saying that his intention with the film was to “redefine the genre.” No word on who will replace Kaye, though Media 8 is looking. Kaye’s name has been removed from the film’s official page on Media 8’s site. Stay tuned, true believers.