I have been damn-near obsessed with movies and shows and books about deadly diseases all my life. I’ve read and watched them all and have been left wanting more, more, more. It seems like my dream is finally coming true. I only wish it wasn’t in the midst of a real life once-in-a-generation pandemic.
Hot on the heels of our first images from The Stand and news of an adaptation of Lawrence Wright’s fresh novel comes word of Songbird, a pandemic thriller produced by Michael Bay (abovem blowing up shit) and set to shoot in Los Angeles in just a few weeks. That’s right, Songbird is a movie about a pandemic that will be filmed during a pandemic. There’s a word for that but I’m not sure what it is. Synergy? Serendipity? Madness?
Songbird will be directed by Adam Mason (Into The Dark) and will take place two years from now. In it, “the pandemic has not gone away. Lockdowns have been rolled back and then reinstated and it becomes even more serious as the virus continues to mutate.”
Deadline goes on to say the movie won’t be a supernatural thriller but will rather focus on “governmental conspiracy and paranoia.” Paranoid about the government’s response to a virus? Why would you feel that way? Surely the government would never let us down during a crisis! Never!
(I wish there was a sarcasm font)
Songbird will be a low budget affair which will help its shoot. Productions haven’t been given the green light in LA yet though it seems that things are quickly moving that way. The producers of the film have received the go-ahead from the various guilds and everyone is signing off on production. So this is really happening. It will likely be the first production since lockdown; it’s only fitting that it will be about a killer virus that shuts the city down.
I am really curious to see how Songbird ends up but I am even more curious to see how they film the thing. Apparently people will never shoot in a room together and filming will take place after crews have come in, set up the shots and then left. This just all sounds very different but also sounds like the new normal. I hope someone creates a behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Songbird.