If we were so grateful to get a new David Cronenberg film in the first place, it was a pleasant surprise Crimes of the Future also wouldn’t be his final hurrah (fitting send-off though it may be). On the cusp of its premiere he announced development with The Shrouds, which would star Vincent Cassel as Karsh, an “innovative businessman and grieving widower, who builds a device to connect with the dead inside a burial shroud.” (Make all your long-live-the-new-flesh jokes—by some accounts it’s a deeply personal exploration of the death of Cronenberg’s wife.)
Because some good things still happen in this world, Cronenberg has announced (per Screen Daily) Léa Seydoux will join Cassel and production commences spring of next year. If she was in perfect player-and-part harmony with Crimes‘ organ-philosophizing dialogue, one expects likewise with The Shrouds—per Cronenberg, “a very personal project” with “autobiographical” elements. He sounds positively energized while accepting a lifetime achievement award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, where he stated an intent to keep momentum running—there’s a reference to future films, plural—even with smaller means. (Crimes had shots captured via iPhone, which he says feeds into a longterm fascination with “access to technology.”)
For reference, a longer logline on The Shrouds:
“Karsh’s revolutionary business is on the verge of breaking into the international mainstream when several graves within his cemetery are vandalized and nearly destroyed, including that of his wife. While he struggles to uncover a clear motive for the attack, the mystery of who wrought this havoc, and why, will drive Karsh to reevaluate his business, marriage and fidelity to his late wife’s memory, as well as push him to new beginnings.”