Rob Zombie, the metalhead turned horror film director, announced that he will be taking on a different genre of movies with his newest project. Zombie is slated to direct the upcoming biopic on the iconic comedian Groucho Marx, Deadline reports.
Zombie, along with Cold Iron Productions producer Miranda Bailey, obtained the rights to "Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House," a memoir that details the bizzare last moment of Marx's life. Written by Steve Stoliar, a long-time Marx Brothers fan, the book chronicles his time spent as Marx's personal assistant and archivist. Oscar-nominated director Oren Moverman is set to write the film's screenplay, with Zombie directing and co-producing with Bailey and Andy Gould.
A photo posted by RobZombieofficial (@robzombieofficial) on Jun 18, 2015 at 10:06am PDT
"Raised Eyebrows" marks Zombie's first departure from his beloved horror genre. The musician made his directorial debut with the gory films "House of 1000 Corpses" and "The Devil's Rejects," solidifying his role in the genre with two "Halloween" remakes. He is currently working on "31," a film about five people who are kidnapped on Halloween Eve and find themselves trapped in a deadly funhouse called Murder World.
But Stoliar's memoir hit a chord with Zombie, who is a life-long Marx fan. In a recent Instagram post, Zombie describes his take on the story as a "dark, twisted tale," to assure fans he'll stay true to his directorial style.
"I have been a huge Groucho Marx fan ever since I was a child and have read countless book on the comic legend, but after reading the book Raised Eyebrows, a totally new perspective on Groucho's life emerged," Zombie told Deadline. "I immediately saw this project as Groucho's Sunset Boulevard and knew I had to bring it to the big screen. It is a sad, funny and very dark tale of a one of Hollywood's greatest stars final years."
