New information from Deadline confirms that the creative team of Captain Marvel, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, will script, direct, and produce the upcoming drama Freaky Tales for eOne and Macro. The film is being hailed as a “love letter” to Fleck’s upbringing, which is depicted as including a wide range of cultural touchstones such as movies, sports, politics, locations, and personal anecdotes (some real, some imagined). There will be four tales, all set in 1987 in Oakland, California. The stories all have a familiar feel on the surface, but the Oakland of Freaky Tales “hover[s] just outside our knowable cosmos,” as the article puts it. In other words, you can reach out and touch it, but be warned that it will be sticky.
Freaky Tales, from its title and description alone, could seem to take place in an alternate dimension; but, knowing Boden and Fleck’s proclivity for character-driven, multifaceted narratives, viewers can expect a nostalgic trip with some high-stakes drama. It has also been claimed that Todd Shaw, better known by his stage name Too $hort, will play a significant role in the project. Shaw was an integral element of Oakland’s music scene in the 1980s, thus the creators thought it was crucial to have him on board. After a meeting with Boden and Fleck, Shaw and his manager David Weintraub agreed to executive produce the film with the help of the team because of their commitment to his music. Both halves of the filmmaking duo are well recognised for their work on the 2019 picture Captain Marvel, the first superhero film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to have a female lead.
The film, which was set in the 1990s and starred Academy Award winner Brie Larson and Marvel Cinematic Universe mainstay Samuel L. Jackson, became a massive financial success, grossing over $1.1 billion throughout the world. Next, Boden and Fleck joined the cast of Mrs America, a limited series developed by Dahvi Waller and nominated for an Emmy. The political drama, starring Cate Blanchett and Rose Byrne, follows the revolutionary split over the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.
The team’s experience with historical pieces, as shown in films like Sugar and Mississippi Grind, means that Freaky Tales is in capable hands. There will be two more exec producers, and their names are James Lopez and Charles D. King. Macro’s Jelani Johnson and Poppy Hanks will be co-producing the film alongside eOne. There is currently no available information on the project.