Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer’s John McNaughton and Michael Rooker are back together for Road Rage

Michael Rooker, photo credit: Matthias Clamer

Tim Perell of Process Media announced that filmmaker John McNaughton and actor Michael Rooker, the team who created the classic, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, will reteam, after thirty years, on a new film titled Road Rage, the first in a vigilante film series. Tim Perell will produce through his banner, Process Media.

In 1986, McNaughton co-wrote and directed the award-winning and critically acclaimed film Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. Called “truly disturbing” by John Waters, the groundbreaking film was a huge crossover hit with genre fans as well as the art house crowd. The film won best picture awards at both the Sitges and Brussels International Film Festivals and was nominated along with McNaughton and Rooker individually for 6 Independent Spirit Awards in 1991. Time Magazine and Roger Ebert both named it one of the top ten films of the year.

John Naughton, photo credit: Marc Hauser

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer also marked the feature film debut for award-winning actor Michael Rooker, whose career has now spanned five decades. He is currently known around the world for his role of “Yondu” in the Guardians of the Galaxy series, “Merle” on The Walking Dead and roles in The Suicide Squad and Fast and the Furious 9: The Fast Saga. Rooker is represented by The Gersh Agency and LINK Entertainment.

Road Rage will begin a franchise featuring a new kind of serial killer, one who only kills those who deserve to die. In the tradition of the great avenger films of the 70’s, the film will present a modern hero who is a bad guy gone good, protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty.

Tim Perell stated, “With Road Rage, John McNaughton and Michael Rooker aim once again to create a transgressive and shocking film that will exist at the cutting edge of art and genre. As Henry was ahead of its time, so Road Rage will be ahead of this time; both a disturbing and exhilarating reflection of contemporary American culture.”

John McNaughton added, “I’d wanted to work with Michael Rooker again since, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but we never got the chance. Finally, I wrote a story that took the genre in a whole new direction. Michael Rooker as Stony; he drives a truck… and kills people. Stony is the ultimate serial killer… with a twist, and he’s going home now after twenty years, to settle a score from the past.”

In addition to the film, Process Media will partner with the award-winning entertainment studio, iNK Stories, to develop a Road Rage video game expanding the brand onto another platform providing an interactive experience in which audiences can participate in the expanded story world.

Navid Khonsari and Vassiliki Khonsari, co-founders of iNK Stories commented, “We are excited to work with John and Tim on developing a genre bending game, with a feminist perspective on the American phenomenon of a serial killer.”

One of Variety’s 10 Producer’s to Watch and the recipient of an Independent Spirit Award for producing, Tim Perell has been making films for four decades and for the past several years has taught film at Johns Hopkins University. Upcoming projects include Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s Party of the Century and several titles still under wraps. Previous John Cameron Mitchell’s Cannes sensation Shortbus, Last Chance Harvey starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, Bobcat Goldthwait’s World’s Greatest Dad starring Robin Williams, five films with director Bart Freundlich including Trust the Man starring David Duchovny, Julianne Moore, Billy Crudup and Eva Mendes and Wolves starring Michael Shannon and Carla Gugino.

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