In his last few comedies, director Todd Phillips has shown a dark edge that one might not normally expect in the world of Hollywood studio filmmaking. As he continues production on The Hangover Part III, the director is now set to bring that tone and make a major leap into an entirely different genre.
Variety reports that Warner Bros. has set the director on an adaptation of Linwood Barclay‘s thriller novel Trust Your Eyes. With comparisons thrown around to the Alfred Hitchcock classic Rear Window, instead of our protagonist simply peering out his window, the modern day film sees our lead obsessed with a Google Maps-esque computer program that can see the world. When he witnesses a possible murder, the adventure begins.
The concept seems a bit silly, but after a long career in comedies, I’m interested to see what Phillips can do in other genres. With our lead being an obsessive schizophrenic, I could even see his Hangover star Bradley Cooper repeating a Limitless-esque role here. But with the studio just picking this one up, it will be a long time before we see it.
Check out a synopsis of the novel below via Amazon.
Thomas Kilbride is a map-obsessed schizophrenic so affected that he rarely leaves the self-imposed bastion of his bedroom. But with a computer program called Whirl360.com, he travels the world while never so much as stepping out the door. He pores over and memorizes the streets of the world. He examines every address, as well as the people who are frozen in time on his computer screen.
Then he sees something that anyone else might have stumbled upon—but has not—in a street view of downtown New York City: an image in a window. An image that looks like a woman being murdered.
Thomas’s brother, Ray, takes care of him, cooking for him, dealing with the outside world on his behalf, and listening to his intricate and increasingly paranoid theories. When Thomas tells Ray what he has seen, Ray humors him with a half-hearted investigation. But Ray soon realizes he and his brother have stumbled onto a deadly conspiracy.
And now they are in the crosshairs…
What do you think about this jump into thrillers for Phillips?