It seems the re-engineering of classic children's characters has become the new horror norm, and this is very much the case with the upcoming film The Mean One. Ahead of the film's release, the creators of the project discussed bringing their murderous Christmas fantasy to life, and the unlikely path that brought The Mean One to the big screen.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Steven LaMorte talked about the early days of the film, which is a loose parody of the children's book How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. It follows a woman, Cindy You-Know-Who (Krystle Martin), who looks to avenge the death of her parents from a fearsome monster known as The Mean One (David Howard Thornton). The film is based on a story LaMorte had been working on for at least six years, but he admits that it started off as just a fun trailer. "This has always been that sticky note that sits on your idea board," LaMorte told EW. "So I took all of my notes and put together a fake trailer. We shot it, we cut it together, and I showed some friends in the industry, just as a lark, it was never supposed to go anywhere." However, LaMorte added that the wheels began to turn when his friends reacted positively to the trailer:
"I said, 'There's no movie. We just made this trailer. It's done, that's it.' One thing led to another, and some of my partners were like, what if it could be a movie? And now here we are."
LaMorte also spoke of the challenges surrounding the creation of the film that is so clearly based on another property. However, he told EW that he was able to get his project made due to the fact that parody is a protected part of the First Amendment. "I don't want to say that I'm a legal scholar, but I've done more than my fair share of research and consultation just to make sure that we're not denigrating the source material. I love these stories; we want to honor it, of course, but it's a parody; it's supposed to be funny," LaMorte said. "There was a time, 10, 20, 30 years ago, when the idea of taking existing IP and doing something with it was crazy ... But nowadays, with social media and the internet, I really think [the] fanbase really takes ownership of these characters."
In addition to the creative process behind the film, LaMorte also heaped praise on his star, Thornton. Best known for his iconic role as Art the Clown from the Terrifier series, LaMorte said Thornton's experience from those films was able to translate well onto The Mean One. "Because he's classically trained as a mime and as an actor, what he brings to a non-verbal character is just astonishing to watch," LaMorte told EW. "When he got on set, he was The Mean One."
LaMorte's film is based on a screenplay from Flip Kobler and Finn Kobler. The project was also produced by LaMorte along with Amy Schumacher and Martine Melloul, in collaboration with A Sleight of Hands Productions, Amy Rose Productions, and Kali Pictures. The Mean One will be released by Atlas Film Distribution on Dec 9. The film's trailer can be seen below: