'Barbarian' Director Almost Couldn't Get #MeToo Horror Film Made: 'Nobody Wants To Follow A Rapist'

"Barbarian" writer/director Zach Cregger made the movie no one thought possible.

The film follows Tess (Georgina Campbell), a woman who lives uncomfortably with a stranger (Bill Skarsgård) in a dual-booked Airbnb owned by a former actor facing a #MeToo scandal (Justin Long). And while the horror film has a series of twists, including an abrupt pivot of about 40 minutes, Cregger's nonconforming script structure is part of why it took so long to make.

"I made a spreadsheet of every production company that had made a horror movie in the last 15 years and sent it to everyone, and every one of them said no", Cregger said of the now-viral hit movie. "They didn't like that the movie resets to page 50. They didn't like that there was a character that was part of Hollywood. And they said nobody wanted to follow a rapist for 30 pages. "

Cregger continued, "All of those things that people relied on, especially the lack of structure, were the things that excited me the most. I knew if I polished those edges, I would compromise that thing. and disadvantage her before she had a chance."
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He said that A24 dropped out of the movie altogether, and although Neon met with Cregger, there was no follow-up.

Eventually, Cregger connected with BoulderLight, as co-founder Raphael Margules said they were all "completely on the same page" with Cregger's vision. "It's a weird movie on paper, but it's never funny, scary, thrilling, entertaining," Margules said. "The very reasons people passed it on are why we wanted to do it."

New Regency, Vertigo, and finally, Disney have boarded the horror thriller.

"Thanks to Disney, because they really had a lot to do with the success of this movie, and they understood perfectly from the start how to market this thing," Margules said. "They talked about how much they wanted this movie to feel like a 'discovery'. They planted that feeling of creating something in the audience.

IndieWire reviewer Jude Cry teased the film's "unexpected third-act reveal - yet another abrupt swing worthy of the 'barbarian' title as it takes us into the realm of the barbarians" - in their review .

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'Barbarian' Director Almost Couldn't Get #MeToo Horror Film Made: 'Nobody Wants To Follow A Rapist'

"Barbarian" writer/director Zach Cregger made the movie no one thought possible.

The film follows Tess (Georgina Campbell), a woman who lives uncomfortably with a stranger (Bill Skarsgård) in a dual-booked Airbnb owned by a former actor facing a #MeToo scandal (Justin Long). And while the horror film has a series of twists, including an abrupt pivot of about 40 minutes, Cregger's nonconforming script structure is part of why it took so long to make.

"I made a spreadsheet of every production company that had made a horror movie in the last 15 years and sent it to everyone, and every one of them said no", Cregger said of the now-viral hit movie. "They didn't like that the movie resets to page 50. They didn't like that there was a character that was part of Hollywood. And they said nobody wanted to follow a rapist for 30 pages. "

Cregger continued, "All of those things that people relied on, especially the lack of structure, were the things that excited me the most. I knew if I polished those edges, I would compromise that thing. and disadvantage her before she had a chance."

Related Related

He said that A24 dropped out of the movie altogether, and although Neon met with Cregger, there was no follow-up.

Eventually, Cregger connected with BoulderLight, as co-founder Raphael Margules said they were all "completely on the same page" with Cregger's vision. "It's a weird movie on paper, but it's never funny, scary, thrilling, entertaining," Margules said. "The very reasons people passed it on are why we wanted to do it."

New Regency, Vertigo, and finally, Disney have boarded the horror thriller.

"Thanks to Disney, because they really had a lot to do with the success of this movie, and they understood perfectly from the start how to market this thing," Margules said. "They talked about how much they wanted this movie to feel like a 'discovery'. They planted that feeling of creating something in the audience.

IndieWire reviewer Jude Cry teased the film's "unexpected third-act reveal - yet another abrupt swing worthy of the 'barbarian' title as it takes us into the realm of the barbarians" - in their review .