Medianoche’s hot new pitch promises unprecedented access to the scene of the crime, provided the studio can locate the original 1958 soundstage.
In what is already being described as the most heated bidding war of Fantasia’s Frontières co-production market, director Alexandre O. Philippe has lined up industry heavyweights Guillermo del Toro, Ari Aster, and original star Kim Novak for *The Fall*, a premium two-part docuseries determined to uncover the truth behind a tragic death that was explicitly detailed in a Paramount Pictures shooting script.
Reps for the project confirm the sprawling four-hour investigation will treat the finale of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Vertigo* with the rigorous journalistic scrutiny usually reserved for actual missing persons. The doc will feature exclusive “witness testimony” from A-list directors who were not yet born when the prop dummy was pushed off the San Juan Bautista bell tower. Del Toro is reportedly locked in to provide a gripping 40-minute analysis of the scene’s matte painting, while Aster will break down the chilling psychological profile of a screenwriter who simply needed the movie to end.
Streamers are rabid for true crime right now, and this completely disrupts the space by asking 'what if the crime was just a masterfully blocked camera move?'
According to an insider familiar with the deal, *The Fall* will leave no stone unturned, employing cutting-edge 3D mapping technology to reconstruct a bell tower that was built entirely out of plywood and painted canvas. Novak, the only surviving witness to the scripted event, is expected to provide harrowing on-camera testimony regarding where the director told her to stand when the cameras rolled.
The package is currently seeking domestic distribution ahead of its July 22 pitch event, with producers teasing a first-look clause for a follow-up feature that will launch a global manhunt to find out exactly who shot the mother in *Bambi*.