Kurt Sutter's 'This Beast': What to Know About 'Sons of Anarchy' Creator's Netflix Film

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter landed his first big project since leaving Mayans M.C. He will [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter landed his first big project since leaving Mayans M.C. He will make his directorial debut with This Beast, a period horror film that will be produced by Blumhouse Production's Jason Blum for release on Netflix. Sutter directed a handful of Sons of Anarchy episodes and an episode of The Shield, but this is the first time he is writing and directing a film.

This Beast will be set in an English village during the 18th century. When a mysterious beast attacks the village, innocent people are killed and the mayhem inspires religious fanaticism. A lowly trapper promises he can stop the beast and is assigned to kill the beast in a deeply personal mission. Sutter was inspired by The Beast of Gevaudan, a story about a mysterious beast that attacked a French village in the 1760s. Sutter, 60, has also shown an interest in historical settings in the past with The Bastard Executioner, his short-lived follow-up to Sons of Anarchy on FX.

"Bringing my disturbing, familial story sensibility into the Blumhouse world just seemed like something that had to happen," Sutter said in a statement to Deadline. "And This Beast is the perfect project for that marriage. And Netflix is the perfect venue for that bloody ceremony." Blum said his team has "long been fans of Kurt and his unparalleled storytelling - that's both visceral and packs an emotional punch." Blumhouse Television's Chris McCumber and Jeremy Gold are executive producers on the project.

Although Sutter is best known for his television work, he has worked in movies before. In 2015, he wrote the screenplay for Southpaw, a boxing drama starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Antoine Fuqua. Sutter started his career on The Shield before creating Sons of Anarchy in 2008. After The Bastard Executioner only lasted one season, he returned to the SOA franchise with Mayans M.C., serving as writer and executive producer on the show's first two seasons.

Sutter recently tested his acting chops in Doug Liman's Chaos Walking, which stars Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland. While talking about the new film with ComingSoon.net, Sutter also discussed one of his unrealized projects, a script featuring Marvel's The Punisher. Sutter was hired to write a sequel to The Punisher (2004), but his script was rejected, and Punisher: War Zone (2008) was made instead.

"It was a really interesting process and I had never worked with Marvel before," Sutter said. "And you know, I think in my draft of the movie, I ultimately took too many liberties in f—ing with the IP — and it was a rewrite. I was not asked to do all that much. I just saw the story in a different way. So ultimately, I wrote the script and they were like, we didn't want this."

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