• Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket

Freeman, Pacino, Mirren and DeVito check into Taylor Hackford’s retirement home noir Sniff

September 8, 2021 by Matt Rodgers

The first of many Toronto International Film Festival marketplace announcements is the news that Academy-Award winning director Taylor Hackford will attempt to pull off ‘a stylish reinvention of the film noir genre’ with his retirement home murder-mystery noir Sniff. More intriguing than that though is the fact that he’ll have Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Helen Mirren, and Danny DeVito on board to help him achieve it.

According to Deadline, the director of Ray will work from a script by Tom Grey which tells the story of detective Joe Mulwray (Freeman) and his partner William Keys (DeVito) as they investigate a high-end luxury retirement community after the mysterious deaths of two of its residents. What starts out as a normal case quickly turns strange, as the detective duo uncover a hidden underworld of sex, drugs and murder controlled by senior living community kingpin Harvey Stride (Pacino) and his femme fatale enforcer The Spider (Mirren).

Speaking about the development of Sniff (via Deadline), Hackford said “I have always been a big fan of film noir but haven’t really made one, though I did make Against All Odds. That was a remake of Out of the Past, which is one of the best film noirs ever. I didn’t want to make a shot for shot redo of that, but took it as inspiration. Adam and Matt Skiena sent me the script, over the transom to my agent, and I was delighted. First-time screenwriter who has amazing style and conceptually understands what makes film noir stick. The whole concept of setting a film noir in an upscale retirement community … these are proliferating all over the United States as the baby boomer generation gets to retirement. There’s a lot of money, and people want to live in a beautiful setting. Those are on the brochures, but what Tom Grey did was show what was lurking below the surface. I thought it was a brilliant idea and he understood the nature of good noir — the dark story, the incredibly twisted characters — and I thought he had a great handle.”

Hackford continued to reveal that he hoped to have Sniff ready to hit theatres at the end of 2022. Let us know whether you’ll be heading to a cinema near you to see it by hitting up our social channels @FlickeringMyth….

 

Filed Under: Matt Rodgers, Movies, News Tagged With: Al Pacino, Danny DeVito, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Sniff, Taylor Hackford

FMTV – Watch Our Latest Video Here

WATCH OUR MOVIE NOW FOR FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:

The Rise of Paul Thomas Anderson: A Living Legend

The Best Retro 2000 AD Video Games

Out for Vengeance: Ten Essential Revenge Movies

Ten Unmade Film Masterpieces

The Essential Joe Dante Movies

10 Great B-Movies of the VHS Era

Ten Action Sequels The World Needs To See

10 Great Neo-Western Movies You Need To See

The Essential Films of John Woo

Sin City at 20: The Story Behind the Stylish, Blood-Soaked Neo-Noir Comic Book Adaptation

Top Stories:

Netflix shares Wednesday season 2 trailer and promo images

Movie Review – Superman (2025)

Peacock’s true crime drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy gets a trailer

Great Tarantino-esque Movies You Need To See

New trailer for Netflix mystery-thriller series Untamed starring Eric Bana

7 Underrated World War II Romance Movies

Movie Review – Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (2025)

Movie Review – Sovereign (2025)

STREAM FREE ON PRIME VIDEO!

FEATURED POSTS:

The Films Quentin Tarantino Wrote But Didn’t Direct

7 Sci-Fi Horror Movie Hidden Gems You Have To See

The Essential Tony Scott Movies

Great Mob Movies You Might Have Missed

Our Partners

  • Pop Culture
    • Movies
    • Television
    • Comic Books
    • Video Games
    • Toys & Collectibles
  • Features
    • News
    • Reviews
    • Articles and Opinions
    • Interviews
    • Exclusives
    • Flickering Myth Films
    • FMTV
  • About
    • About Flickering Myth
    • Write for Flickering Myth
    • Advertise on Flickering Myth
  • Socials
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Bluesky
    • Instagram
    • Flipboard
    • Linktree
    • X
  • Terms
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy

© Flickering Myth Limited. All rights reserved. The reproduction, modification, distribution, or republication of the content without permission is strictly prohibited. Movie titles, images, etc. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Read our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. If you can read this, you don't need glasses.


 

Flickering MythLogo Header Menu
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Articles & Opinions
  • Write for Us
  • The Baby in the Basket