“I didn’t know it would work until I met with Quibi,” Most Dangerous Game writer-showrunner Nick Santora said about being approached to work on a project for the new upstart media service that offers entertainment on your phone — in some cases feature-length films delivered in up to 15 or so short doses.
Santora is Emmy nominated for his first Quibi effort in the Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series category for the update of the classic story in which a man (Liam Hemsworth) is offered great riches if he agrees to be “hunted.” If he survives the efforts of a group of hunters to kill him, he will get the money, the stakes being raised each time. The manipulator behind it all is a man with evil intentions played by two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, who appeared with Santora at Deadline’s virtual Contenders Television: The Nominees all-day event.
“It’s an entirely new dramatic form, and that’s exciting to participate in, something innovative like that,” Waltz told me. He said shooting the 15 webisodes — each one ending with some sort of cliffhanger — was no different that any other film he has made, and he enjoyed making the “villain” a complex one.
“That was the thing that was fascinating,” he said. “He doesn’t need to be a despicable character. We’re all composites of many different aspects, and the moral contradictions within the character are interesting.”
Santora said the plot lends itself nicely to the Quibi format. “If I didn’t do it right, then shame on me because the story is right there.”
Most Dangerous Game was recently renewed for a second season. “We are currently prepping and getting ready for Season 2, and it’s going to be great,” Santora said. He wouldn’t divulge details but last month, he told Deadline that Waltz will return and the second season will feature a new “runner”. Santora also is working on a feature film version of the series.
Check out the video above, and click here to watch all of Sunday’s Contenders TV panels.
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