James DeMonaco is best known for creating the Purge franchise, so we were fully expecting his next project for the Blumhouse label to feature more chaos, blood and terror, especially given the presence of franchise veteran Frank Grillo in the cast. Not so! Grillo, Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale are leading the cast of coming-of-age drama Once Upon A Time In Staten Island.
DeMonaco, as he has done with the Purge movies, has written the script and will direct the film, which is set in the summer of 1982 and is backdropped by the release of Rocky III (cue sudden interest from our own Rockyphile and boss, Terri White). The plot will follow an average teen who embarks on a quest in his Rocky Balboa-obsessed town, which drags in his parents (Watts and Grillo).
The cameras will be rolling later this month, with Lucius Hoyos, Jonah Hauer-King, River Alexander and Chase Vacnin also in the cast. And it joins the growing trend for Once Upon A Time-titled movies, what with Quentin Tarantino's latest. What's next? Once Upon A Time In Clacton?
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