Update: Poster has been removed by request.
English artist-turned-director Steve McQueen broke onto scene in 2008 with his intense, affecting story about the 1981 Irish hunger strike through the eyes of former IRA member Bobby Sands, the appropriately titled “Hunger,” which also served as the breakout film for then little-known German-born Irish actor Michael Fassbender. The film earned worldwide acclaim, taking home the Camera d’Or after its premiere at Cannes, the Gucci Award at Venice and scoring McQueen the BAFTA for Most Promising Newcomer. And rightfully so, it was undoubtedly one of the most impressive debuts in recent times.
Color us over the moon then with news earlier this year that the aforementioned duo — McQueen and Fassbender — will now be reuniting for a New York-set drama titled “Shame,” set to begin lensing on location in January. The film was excitingly described at the time as a “deeply honest and provacative” work with contributions by scribe Abi Morgan (the upcoming Margaret Thatcher biopic, Joe Wright‘s gestating “The Little Mermaid“) for a helmer who was “not afraid to not afraid to turn a mirror on the world.”
Little had been heard of the project until now, of course, with Collider continuing their coverage of the recent American Film Market providing the first glimpse at the first teaser poster for the project and a slightly updated synopsis — available after the jump.
Brandon (Fassbender) is a 30-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon’s world spirals out of control. From director Steve McQueen (Hunger), Shame is a compelling and timely examination of the nature of need, how we live our lives and the experiences that shape us.
A January start presumably means See-Saw Films, the British-Australian shingle also behind Tom Hooper‘s “The King’s Speech,” and Film4 are eyeing a fall release later in the year with the astronomical rise of Fassbender likely to bring much warranted attention to the pic. The project’s quick road to development, unfortunately, does sidetrack McQueen’s gestating biopic on Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti which was based on Michael Veal‘s “Fela: The Life And Times Of An Afircan Musical Icon,” that was set to star Chiwetel Ejiofor and had Focus Features behind it.
The script sucks.