Okay, quick show of hands: Who remembers “Cat Person”? The short story? Published in The New Yorker by author Kristen Roupenian? Kicked off a whole tidal wave of thinkpieces about what was either a) a cutting and upsetting depiction of slowly festering toxic masculinity , or b) a writer picking on those poor helpless boys again? It was all anybody could talk about, like three—Jesus, was it only three?—months ago, we promise.
Regardless, take it on credit that there was a time once, in the distant past of December 2017, when the internet was absolutely riveted by a piece of short fiction—we swear!—and now, Roupenian is continuing to capitalize smartly on that sudden wave of interest. Variety reports that the author has just sold a new horror script to A24, the up-and-coming studio whose recent credits include Lady Bird, A Ghost Story, and the soon-to-be-released nightmare factory Hereditary. The purchase will be the first time the studio has bought a script solely on spec; the company is keeping details about the contents of the package mum, but we do know its name: Bodies Bodies Bodies.
Say what you like about “Cat Person,” but it proved Roupenian knows exactly how to tap into modern anxieties with alarming specificity; we’ll have to see whether that zeitgeist-poking talent extends into her screenwriting work, as well.