‘Old Henry’ Director Moves Into Dark Comedy With ‘Greedy People’ Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Lily James

Nick Clement
·3 min read
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After making a promising directorial debut with 2021’s Western “Old Henry,” filmmaker Potsy Ponciroli is back with the twisted black-comedy thriller “Greedy People,” which harkens back to classic neo-noirs like Sam Raimi’s “A Simple Plan” while sampling the idiosyncrasies of a Coen brothers’ film. The original script, by Mike Vukadinovich (Showtime’s “Kidding”), piles on the narrative swerves, yet never at the expense of logic or motivation, showing off a macabre sense of humor with sharp dialogue. “I read close to 150 scripts in the 10 months after we finished ‘Old Henry,’ and only a few of them made a lasting impression. This was one of those scripts. Dark comedy is such a tricky thing, because sometimes people don’t know what to make of it. Is it a drama, or a thriller, or a comedy? And that’s fine, because when that shift happens, you see how the film doesn’t fit into one box. It becomes sort of a moving target. You start in one place and finish in another,” says Ponciroli.

Vukadinovich’s tonally daring original screenplay centers on the eccentric residents of a small, picturesque island town, who are faced with a sensational murder, and the discovery of a million dollars next to the body. Through a series of increasingly bad decisions that hilariously upend the once-peaceful community, the multiple characters all plot and scheme to stay alive, while the body count rises. “It’s dark and it’s funny, so you’re laughing one moment, and then it gets nasty and brutal. This was a very different film than ‘Old Henry,’ which was sort of a tribute to older Western movies, and with ‘Greedy People,’ I really wanted to do something that was the complete opposite.”

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With a starry cast, including Lily James, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Himesh Patel, Tim Blake Nelson, Uzo Aduba, Jim Gaffigan, Simon Rex, Nina Arianda and Joey Lauren Adams, the film is bolstered in every department with morally flexible performances that are in perfect synch with the increasingly lethal plot developments. “Doing casting was fun. It hinged around the Terry character, because he’s so abrasive, but you still kind of like him, and you want to go for the ride with him. And the idea with Joe Gordon-Levitt was that he could have a blast with the role and do something very different. Once he came on board, all the dominoes started falling, and everyone else joined in.”

“Greedy People” was produced by Zack Schiller (“Men in Black: International”), Dylan Sellers (“Palm Springs”), Shannon Houchins (“Old Henry”), Chris Parker (“Palm Springs”), David Boies (“Midnight Sun”) and Kevin M. Brennan (“Still the King”). “I met Dylan Sellers on a general, and I told him about the script, gave it to him on a Thursday, and he called me on Friday, and said he loved it and wanted to make it. By Sunday night, he said he wanted to fund it. It’s the fastest I’ve ever seen something come together. You can prep and push a movie for years and it never happens, but this just kept snowballing and all of
the pieces lined up.”

With numerous projects that are in various stages of development, Ponciroli isn’t wasting any time with getting back behind a camera. “I’m trying to get something shot this winter, so I’m in the process of casting that now and hopefully it will go. I’m also partnered with Escape Artists on a project which we’d love to get going next June. It’s just all about waiting to see which one falls next.”

Verve is handling domestic sales on “Greedy People,” while Mister Smith Entertainment is handling international.

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