Next Joss Whedon movie is a World War II horror film

Currently working hard to promote the Save the Day voting initiative, filmmaker/nerd god Joss Whedon (Serenity, The Avengers) wants to remind fans that he is still doing the thing audiences love him most for: Writing. He teased a new project that was “a departure” back in April at the Tribeca Film Festival, but had remained mum about that project… until now, as he revealed to Complex that he’s working on a World War II horror movie.

“I’m in the middle of a screenplay that I am extremely passionate about, and I am going to be extremely passionate about it again on November 9,” said Whedon. “It’s definitely a departure from the things that I’m known for. It’s as dark as anything I’ve ever written. I just said, ‘OK, id, your turn.’ I would write scenes and be like, ‘Oh this is great! I shouldn’t be allowed near people.’ It’s a historical fiction/horror movie about a time when the world was going insane, World War II. I got to tell you, I was in Germany and Poland doing research for this movie and I was seeing so many parallels [to the U.S.]. And I know it’s a shopworn thing to compare the orange guy to the little guy with the mustache, but you see things, indelible things in terms of propaganda, the state of the country, and the parallels are eerie as f*ck.”

During the interview, Whedon left the door open for more franchise work, including (hypothetically speaking) a James Bond movie, a Catwoman movie with Anne Hathaway and a Star Wars spin-off movie. However, he seems the most jazzed about creating something wholly his own again, and fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly will definitely appreciate that.

This will not be his first foray into horror, of course, having penned both the Buffy movie and TV series, Angel, Alien: Resurrection and The Cabin in the Woods. However, it sounds like this may be his chance to really explore truly horrific territory that WWII is chock full of. Whether the tone will be as zany as something like Dead Snow or as “serious” as Michael Mann’s cult film The Keep remains to be seen. Keep your eyes peeled to ComingSoon.net for more info on Joss Whedon’s next movie!