David Robert Mitchell Taking on Superhero Genre With ‘Heroes & Villains’ (Exclusive)

David Robert Mitchell, the filmmaker behind Under the Silver Lake and It Follows, is jumping into the world of superheroes.

MGM has picked up Mitchell’s Heroes & Villains, a genre-blending and genre-bending project that he has written and will direct. Mitchell will also produce along with Chris Bender and Jake Weiner of Good Fear Content.

Details are being kept hidden in a secret headquarters, but the pic is described as a new take on superheroes.

Mitchell has been working on his spin on the genre under the cover of a cowl for some time now; not only is the script written but he expects casting to begin shortly, sources say.

New takes on superheroes seem to be popping up everywhere — Netflix just last week picked up Ball and Chain, about a married couple whose powers only work when they are together — but Mitchell is nothing if not original, with a tendency to deconstruct genres.

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His It Follows took virginal and sexual horror-movie tropes and made them front and center in a tale about a supernatural force that kills after sexual encounters. The film also gave the horror world a shot in the arm and became a word-of-mouth hit when it was released in 2014.

Under the Silver Lake, an ambitious undertaking that took on conspiracy, noir and music elements, starred Andrew Garfield and debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2018.

The pickup of Heroes & Villains is the latest in a series of strikes being made by MGM, which has been on a tear in acquiring new material since Michael De Luca was named film chair earlier this year. The high-profile pickup of the Andy Weir manuscript Project Hail Mary and Lady Gaga’s Gucci are just a few examples of new projects in the works. And De Luca is well-versed in Mitchell’s creative ways, having been a producer on Silver Lake.

Good Fear has two movies primed for release: the Dave Bautista action-comedy My Spy, which will stream on Amazon, and Disney’s live-action take on its animated tale Mulan. The latter is due to open July 24.

Mitchell is repped CAA, Good Fear and attorney David Fox.