Elle Fanning joins Nicolas Winding Refn's L.A. Horror 'The Neon Demon'

Back when Nicolas Winding Refn first started talking about his film I Walk with the Dead, he described it as an L.A. horror with a lot of sex. It may have taken awhile for the film, retitled The Neon Demon, to get moving but now that Refn is ready to roll he's found a star who has never starred in a film that promises to be so provocative.

Elle Fanning has taken the lead role in The Neon Demon, meaning that Carey Mulligan is no longer attached as had been suspected. Confirmed for a spring shoot just a couple of months ago with Cliff Martinez scoring and Philippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster) providing the cinematography, the film has been most recently described as a "horror film about vicious beauty". Refn and Mary Laws co-wrote the script, with Fanning playing an aspiring model who is caught in a world of beauty and demise. Doesn't sound like the kind of role we'd expect out of Fanning which makes this all the more intriguing. She's been consistently edging her way up by taking more mature roles, like last year's drug-fueled biopic, Low Down. 

Clearly Refn is excited to be working with Fanning on this, tweeting "Elle Fanning is a super cool wonder woman and I look forward to going on a terrifying trip with her into ‘The Neon Demon."

Filming on The Neon Demon is to begin this spring

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Nicolas Winding Refn Moves Forward on Female-Led Horror, 'The Neon Demon'

It's been awhile since we've heard anything concrete on Nicolas Winding Refn's horror film I Walk with the Dead, which was to be led by an all-female cast that was rumored to include Carey Mulligan. Refn hasn't directed a film since last year's Only God Forgives, which didn't perform all that well, and he's been reluctant to take on anything new. But now he's made a firm decision, announcing the horror film as his next project and revealing its new title.

According to THR, Refn will direct The Neon Demon with plans for shooting to begin next spring. Refn will co-write the script with Mary Laws, who has apparently replaced playwright Polly Stenham who was attached to the film previously. Details on the plot aren't really available yet but the story will bring Refn back to Los Angeles, and he's clearly jazzed about it...

Refn: "One morning I woke and realized I was both surrounded and dominated by women. Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty. After making Drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of Los Angeles, I knew I had to return to tell the story of The Neon Demon."

Refn will reteam with Cliff Martinez on the score, while Philippe Le Sourd, who did amazing work on Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster, will be his cinematographer.  Mulligan isn't mentioned in the report and she may have moved on, or Refn is keeping her involvement a secret. Hopefully it's the latter.

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