Film producer Tina Brown tells E! News that Haim was set to
start production on a dark new film, A Detour in Life, next month. Brown wrote
the movie, about a man who succumbs to drunkenness and other self-destructive
impulses, specifically for Haim, who not only would have starred but also
directed.
"This was to be his directorial debut," she said.
"We were going to start shooting in late spring. I talked to him back in
November at the premiere of American Sunset and he was doing great, so it was
really a shock."
Made all the more so by his apparent clean-living lifestyle
when she last saw him.
"He was extremely healthy," she said. "I saw
him the year before and he was super skinny, but he had put on a lot of weight
and looked a lot more coherent and looked extremely well."
Even as recently as last week, Brown said she spoke with the
former child star's manager, who relayed the news that Haim was very much
looking forward to starting work on the project, which would mark a new
direction for his career.
"I talked to him just last week, and Corey was waiting
for an update," she said of her discussion with manager Mark Heaslip.
"[Haim] was very, very excited to do this role because
it would be the first time he got to do a real adult role...being a father and
everything which he had never got to do. I had written the script for him to
play James. I really wanted to see him do something out of the horror stuff or
the comical stuff and take on something really dramatic."
As for the project's current status, Brown said the
devastated crew will continue on in Haim's honor once they all process the
tragedy.
"I'm still trying to get ahold of the other producers.
Only half of them know," she said.
"We plan on still doing the film and doing it in memory
of him because I'm sure that's what he would want. He loved the film. To find
someone to replace him is going to be a difficult task. He would have done a
great, great job."
But while Haim never got to bring that project to fruition,
he did complete one movie that will be posthumously released. Haim had already
wrapped work on what was supposed to be the first of his comeback films,
American Sunset, a low-budget horror flick.
The trailer made its way online last month, though the feature has no definite release date. Or medium. While its official website says the film is priming for a theatrical release sometime this year, it also notes that the movie will be out "on pay TV, cable or DVD" this fall.]
Corey will always live in my mind's eye as that adorable kid from Lost Boys, and beyond...
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