God Is A Bullet - What We Know So Far

The Notebook and My Sister's Keeper director Nick Cassavetes is gritting up his oeuvre with God is a Bullet. The film will be adapted from the novel of the same name by pseudonymous crime author Boston Teran (a name taken from a Concrete Blonde song). The book is set in the seedy underbelly of 1995 Southern California.

Pre-production on God Is a Bullet was first announced by Deadline. "I am excited to get God is a Bullet into production with my friend and producer/financer, Michael Mendelsohn," Cassavetes said. "It's a magnificent, ultra-dark work that is somehow both intensely frightening and literate, inspired by true events, with the most amazing cast of actors." Michael Mendelsohn has previously produced/financed films such as Lord of War, The Mothman Prophecies, and Fight Club. 

Cassavetes is the son of actor-director John Cassavetes and his frequent star and collaborator, Gena Rowlands. Besides directing films like Alpha Dog and John Q,, Cassavetes is an actor, too. He has appeared in Face/Off; The Hangover Part II; and the British-Cyprian comedy Farticus, in which he played Adonis Papadapadopounopoulopoulos.

We don't yet know when God is a Bullet will hit theaters. Pre-production has already started in Mexico, and production is set to begin May 24, 2021. Deadline notes that production will follow Screen Actors Guild protocols.

Regardless of when the film is released, it'll have been a long journey from page to screen. God is a Bullet was published in 1999. It was Boston Teran's debut novel, nominated for an Edgar Award and winning the 2000 CWA New Blood Dagger. Bestowed by the British Crime Writers Association, the New Blood Dagger has also been given to Janet Evanovich, Patricia Cornwell, and Gillian Flynn. Teran has written 12 books since God is a Bullet. A film of his sixth novel, The Creed of Violence, has also been announced, featuring Daniel Craig and set during the Mexican Revolution. According to Collider, it has been in development for almost 10 years.

God is a Bullet follows vice detective Bob Hightower as he searches for his kidnapped daughter. Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered by a satanic cult and his daughter kidnapped by those same cultists. Hightower eventually gets fed up with the official investigation and quits the force. In order to track them down, he joins forces with their only female escapee, Case Hardin. The two go undercover in a world of violence and high stakes for their own reasons: Hightower needs to find his daughter, and Hardin needs to get closure on her time as the cult's captive.

God is a Bullet is one of many recent projects that imagines a world where the Satanic Panic of the '80s and '90s was founded, rather than a case of mass hysteria. The film joins the likes of House of the Devil, The Babysitter, and Netflix's Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

The book gets its name from a song by Concrete Blonde. The song details different victims and perpetrators of gun violence, including a teenager gunned down after a car chase and a police officer who shoots someone in panic. The band's music has been used in such films as the criminally underrated sci-fi noir The Hidden, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, and Point Break.

A huge cast of stars has signed on for God is a Bullet. Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister) is set to star as Bob Hightower. Maika Monroe, who starred in the cult horror movie It Follows, will play the cult's would-be victim. According to Deadline, Jamie Foxx will play a crucial supporting role as "The Ferryman."

Playing additional supporting roles will be Mad Men's January Jones (Betty Draper) and A Star Is Born's Andrew "Dice" Clay. Dice has had quite the career, going from reciting dirty limericks in sold-out stadiums to becoming a somewhat understated character actor. Besides playing Lady Gaga's dad in A Star Is Born, Dice has worked with Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine) and Martin Scorsese (Vinyl). 

Like his father, Nick Cassavetes has a tendency to collaborate with many of the same actors, some of whom are family. However, none of his frequently used actors has been attached to God is a Bullet as of yet.