Brian De Palma Returns With Sweet Vengeance This Summer
The comeback is on: Brian De Palma will shoot Sweet Vengeance this summer, his first feature in nearly seven years.
Brian De Palma looks ready to get back behind the camera this summer. The long-stalled thriller 'Sweet Vengeance' is reportedly moving forward, with filming planned in Portugal. And if you are a De Palma person, The Film Stage says to expect 'two quintessential De Palma set pieces' baked in. That alone sounds like the point of the exercise.
So what is 'Sweet Vengeance' exactly?
De Palma first floated this project way back in 2018. His pitch then: it is inspired by two real murder cases, and he wants to structure the movie like the true-crime shows he has been watching for decades. Think the storytelling rhythms of something like '48 Hours' applied to a De Palma thriller. That combo makes sense for him: highly designed, morally messy, and obsessed with how violence is packaged and watched.
- Timeline: Targeting a summer shoot after nearly seven years away from releasing a new feature
- Location: Portugal
- Style promise: The Film Stage teases 'two quintessential De Palma set pieces'
- Concept: Inspired by two real-life murder cases and the TV true-crime format he has studied for 30 to 40 years
- Casting: Wagner Moura ('Narcos') was attached back in 2018; unclear if he is still in the mix now
Why the long gap? Look at 'Domino'
De Palma’s last film, 'Domino,' went straight to VOD in 2019 and landed with a thud critically and commercially. It starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as a Danish cop hunting the people who killed his partner, and it folded in a terror plot where the antagonists are hooked on getting their acts seen live online or on TV. De Palma did not write that script and has been blunt about what went wrong, saying the political angle barely existed in the final film and that the production itself was a mess.
'I never experienced such a horrible movie set.'
He has said financing was a headache, crew members were left unpaid by the Danish producers, and once he delivered a cut, the film’s fate was out of his hands. Also worth noting: he called it his first and probably last time shooting in Denmark. Very industry-specific drama, and it clearly cooled him on jumping straight into another feature.
The hope
Setbacks aside, we are talking about the filmmaker behind 'Carrie,' 'Blow Out,' 'Scarface,' 'Body Double,' 'The Untouchables,' 'Carlito’s Way,' and 'Mission: Impossible.' If 'Sweet Vengeance' actually rolls this summer, and he delivers the big set pieces being teased, it could be the late-career win he deserves. I will update when casting locks in and the cameras actually start turning in Portugal.