Movies - TV
M3GAN Screenwriter Akela Cooper Was Influenced By The Classic Horror
Movie Magic
By SANDY SCHAEFER
Creepy dolls have been making quite the comeback in the horror genre with movies like "The Boy" and the "Annabelle" franchise. The latest to hit the big screen is “M3GAN,” and even though the creepy doll sub-genre has found new ways to make audiences sweat, "M3GAN’s" screenwriter Akela Cooper drew inspiration from the classic Anthony Hopkins horror movie "Magic."
"Magic" left an impression on a young Akela Cooper. Cooper told Empire Magazine, "My thing was ventriloquist dummies. I saw the Anthony Hopkins movie 'Magic' at a really young age and that cemented the creepiness in my brain. I was a big 'Child's Play' fan, too. It was always my dream to create an iconic monster of my own."
Released in 1978, "Magic" stars Anthony Hopkins as Charles "Corky" Withers, a struggling magician who gets more than he bargained for when he integrates a ventriloquist dummy (dubbed "Fats") into his act. The movie was directed by "Gandhi’s" Richard Attenborough and written by "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid’s" screenwriter, William Goldman.