MOVIE NEWS – Lilly Wachowski says no studio will finance her $10 million thriller The Hunted despite its comparatively modest budget. The Matrix co-director believes the decisive obstacle is her plan to cast transgender performers in every major role.

The Hunted has spent an extended period searching for a production partner. The project is being developed through Natasha Lyonne’s Anarchists United, with Wachowski co-writing the screenplay alongside Mickey Ray Mahoney, yet its low eight-figure price tag has not persuaded a studio to commit.

Wachowski argues that neither the concept nor the financial exposure is driving the rejections. Instead, she says executives are wary of the all-trans ensemble at a time when Hollywood companies are broadly retreating from earlier commitments to representation.

A live reading was used to demonstrate that the film works

The script received public table readings at Los Angeles’ Dynasty Typewriter on August 7 and 8. For Wachowski, the events functioned both as a creative test and as visible evidence that the story and its performers can hold an audience outside the conventional studio-development system.

“There is catharsis in it, there is trans joy, and all the things people are currently claiming cannot be sold,” Wachowski said. That is precisely why she considers it important to keep pushing the film forward even when studios do not view it as a safe commercial proposition.

Ten million dollars is a restrained budget by current Hollywood standards, particularly after recent genre successes such as Backrooms demonstrated how profitable focused concepts can become. Wachowski has therefore not abandoned the movie and continues looking for a partner willing to protect both the casting plan and the original creative vision.

Source: MovieWeb