{"id":343703,"date":"2025-12-12T18:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T18:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/343703\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T18:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T18:40:09","slug":"hannibal-creator-bryan-fuller-wanted-his-first-film-to-be-horror-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/343703\/","title":{"rendered":"Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller wanted his first film to be horror for everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Bryan Fuller set out to make his first feature film, his goal was to make the kind of family-friendly scares that he loved as a kid. Think Gremlins or Ghostbusters. The creator of Hannibal and Pushing Daisies ended up crafting a story called Dust Bunny<\/a>, about a young girl named Aurora who hires a hitman to kill the monster under her bed. It has all of the hallmarks of those films that inspired him\u2014 a sense of humor, playful action, and a creature that\u2019s both lovable and creepy \u2014 but the final product also hit a slight snag.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was setting out to make a movie that people could take their kids to, and then \u2014 and this is probably why you shouldn\u2019t have me watch your kids \u2014 we ended up with an R rating,\u201d Fuller tells The Verge. \u201cBut it is intended as a family movie. It is intended for kids and adults alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dust Bunny started life as part of Amazing Stories, the Apple TV revival of Steven Spielberg\u2019s anthology series. But the episode was eventually cut and Fuller quickly realized that with its self-contained story, it could be the perfect project for him to make the leap from TV to film. \u201cIt was very clear what to do with it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Going back even further, Fuller explains that Dust Bunny\u2019s origins began in his own childhood. The film follows a child desperate to find anyone to help her deal with the creature terrorizing her home; in this case, the monster under her bed appears to have eaten her parents, leaving her on her own. \u201cThe monster wasn\u2019t necessarily under my bed, but it was under the roof,\u201d Fuller says of growing up. \u201cI had a tricky childhood and a violent father. He was a greater monster than anything I could\u2019ve imagined. That informed certain aspects of the storytelling, in terms of Aurora\u2019s survival and coping mechanisms.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Dust Bunny doesn\u2019t feature any nudity or strong language, it earns its R rating through violence. It\u2019s not heavy on blood and gore, but there are a number shoot-outs \u2014 including Sigourney Weaver wielding a pair of heels that double as guns and one particularly unsettling dismemberment sequence. Fuller views these moments as \u201ccartoon violence,\u201d though evidently the MPA disagreed.<\/p>\n

One of the most important parts of the film was getting the casting right, as Dust Bunny hinges on the dynamic between the hitman and Aurora. Fuller knew that he wanted Hannibal collaborator Mads Mikkelsen as the adult lead, describing him as \u201ca muse, a partner, a brother, a champion.\u201d Mikkelsen was then brought into the casting process for his costar. \u201cI wanted to make sure that he saw something,\u201d Fuller adds, \u201cbecause he\u2019s in the scenes as an actor trying to bring things out of her that are tricks that he\u2019s picked up having worked with child actors.\u201d They ended up casting relative newcomer Sophie Sloan, and her youthful determination provides a fun counterpoint to Mikkelsen\u2019s deadpan seriousness.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

Image: Roadside Attractions<\/p>\n

Also important was figuring out the design of the creature itself. Designed by artist Jon Wayshak<\/a>, who previously worked with Fuller on an unreleased Pushing Daisies comic, the monster is a big fluffy thing that mostly stays out of sight early on, much like the shark in Jaws. Its design also had to manage a tricky balance. \u201cIt\u2019s got to be scary and cute and have an allure to it,\u201d says Fuller, \u201cso you get that it could come from a child\u2019s imagination.\u201d For much of the film, it\u2019s also unclear whether the creature is real at all, or if it\u2019s all in Aurora\u2019s head. (I won\u2019t spoil it, but you do get an answer to this by the end.)<\/p>\n

The buddy comedy setup and lovable-yet-creepy creature are all part of trying to capture that classic \u201980s tone. Fuller notes Gremlins as perhaps the biggest inspiration on Dust Bunny, saying that, even when they had horror elements, many of the films he loved from that era also \u201chad a levity to them and an accessibility that wasn\u2019t oppressive in tone.\u201d<\/p>\n

So even with that pesky R rating, the writer and director are still holding out hope that Dust Bunny can reach its intended audience. \u201cI would love for little girls to experience this,\u201d he says. \u201c…Obviously at their parents\u2019 discretion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dust Bunny is in theaters on December 12th.<\/p>\n

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