Damon Lindelof, co-creator of Lost and The Leftovers, is teaming with Blumhouse and Universal for the politically tinged action-thriller The Hunt.
Craig Zobel, helmer of the Margot Robbie-starring postapocalyptic thriller Z for Zachariah, is on board to direct The Hunt, which has a script written by Lindelof and Nick Cuse, the son of Lindelof’s Lost cohort Carlton Cuse. Blumhouse and Universal picked up the project in a competitive situation.
Lindelof, Cuse and Zobel worked together on Lindelof’s HBO drama The Leftovers. Cuse began as a writer’s assistant on the show before graduating to story editor and writer. Zobel directed several episodes of the series.
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While the logline is being kept under wraps, sources tell Heat Vision that the subversive feature takes its cues from the current political climate in America — elevating the current conflict between right and left wings to a more extreme, and violent, level.
Jason Blum will produce for Blumhouse alongside Lindelof, who will produce via his White Rabbit shingle. Cuse and Zobel will executive produce.
Stories tapping into current social and political veins have been a lucrative boon for the studio and the horror house. Last year, Universal and Blumhouse teamed on Jordan Peele’s Get Out, a thriller that was also a dark satire of American race relations, which earned over $250 million at the global box office and picked up an Oscar win for Peele. The two companies also previously tackled (along with Platinum Dunes) class warfare with the hit Purge franchise.
Cuse is repped by WME and Jackoway Tyerman.
Zobel, who also directed episodes of American Gods and Westworld, is repped by CAA and Jackoway Tyerman.
Tatiana Siegel contributed to this report.
