Now that Cliff Martinez is busy twiddling knobs and the pink and blue lighting gels have been ordered, it’s time to assemble the cast for Nicholas Winding Refn’s next movie. Refn’s new film, The Neon Demon, will reportedly feature an all-female cast and is being described by its director as “a horror film about vicious beauty.” And according to Indiewire, Maleficent’s Elle Fanning has signed on for the lead role. Refn confirmed the news on Twitter yesterday:
16-year-old Fanning has been quite popular lately, and has a Neil Gaiman adaptation, a Mary Shelley biopic, and Ben Affleck’s (new) Boston movie on her to-do list as well. But none of those films will (we assume, anyway) present Fanning with the opportunity to mutilate people with a samurai sword, squash a hit man’s head into jelly in an elevator, or whatever form of feminine ultraviolence Refn has in mind for his teenage star.