Obsession director Curry Barker wants to make a “f---ed up” R-rated Indiana Jones
Obsession director Curry Barker fancies a properly R-rated, messed-up spin on a classic adventure hero — the sort of swing some fans may absolutely hate.
There's talk brewing in Hollywood circles that Obsession director Curry Barker fancies taking a chainsaw to the adventure genre — and if he gets his way, the next great treasure hunt at the cinema is going to be a fair bit less family-friendly than anything Indiana Jones tackled. If you thought Raiders of the Lost Ark was intense, Barker's idea may have you clutching your popcorn for entirely different reasons.
R-Rated Indiana Jones?
Speaking to Gold Derby in one of those classic 'well, wouldn't it be mad if…' interviews, Barker let slip that he and his producing mate, Cooper Tomlinson, have been kicking around ideas for an epic adventure in the style of Spielberg — just with the dial cranked all the way into disturbing territory. He's not shy about the concept, either. This isn't a polite suggestion for 'a grittier take'. Barker's words, after all, were:
Barker told Gold Derby he's keen: "I would want to do a really f---ed up, rated-R version of [Indiana Jones]."
Not subtle, that. So, what does that actually mean in practice? For starters, Barker reckons the swashbuckling adventure genre has been a bit too safe for too long. In his eyes, it's all been a bit soft, relying on that sense of wholesome peril where no one expects anything truly awful to happen.
Turning Adventure on Its Head
Barker says he's itching to try an adventure film where the protagonists aren't well-trained heroes but ordinary blokes who genuinely do not know what they've signed up for. Less 'professor with a whip', more 'two regular lads suddenly in literal hell', if you like. That should be familiar territory for Barker, whose background is steeped more in twisted, horror-tinged storytelling than globe-trotting fun for all the family. He argues:
"That's something that Cooper and I have talked about, because we feel like we've never seen something like that; we've only ever seen the family-friendly version."
He goes as far as to say that pushing the boundaries of the genre would be 'fun'. And you definitely get the sense that his definition of fun skews towards the sort of thing you'd never see on a Saturday matinée.
- Curry Barker has not officially greenlit the project; it's still at the idea stage, with no cast, crew, or official involvement from Tomlinson confirmed yet.
So it's not a real film announcement. Just two blokes in a room, plotting what might be the most traumatising archaeological expedition ever put on screen.