With "Crash" having won the Oscar for best film and done well at the box-office, it comes as no surprise that distributor Lionsgate would want to try and repeat its success in ticketing receipts in a way that has worked for their famous "Saw" horror franchise.
Thus today comes word from The Montreal Times-Gazette that the studio is apparently in talks with writer/director Paul Haggis to pen "Grief", what they call a "Crash" for the New York crowd. The slice of life drama will follow the lives of multiple characters intersecting and sets it against the backdrop of Manhattan (doesn't every other Woody Allen film do that?).
But whereas "Crash" examined the race issue, "Grief" will explore the growing economic divide between the rich and the poor. The contrast of characters from the ultra-rich Central Park West, suburban Brooklyn and the poorer sections of the Bronx area will "provide a more diverse melting pot not possible in the more homogenized LA cultural landscape" says a studio rep. No word if any actors or characters from "Crash" will appear.
