Indiana University's surprising connection to Bill Skarsgård horror film 'Barbarian'

An accidental double-booking at a rental already sounds like a nightmare, but for one young woman, it's only the beginning of a suspenseful, horrifying stay with a fellow house guest.

That's the premise of "Barbarian," a new horror film starring Bill Skarsgård, Georgina Campbell and Justin Long. In the film, a woman (Campbell) rents a home while in town for a job interview, only to discover a strange visitor (Skarsgård) is also staying there. Against her better judgment, she decides to stay the night, which unfolds into a tense, unpredictable series of events.

Free screening of 'Barbarian' at IU

The film will have a theatrical release Sept. 9 by Regency Enterprises and the Walt Disney Company's 20th Century Studios. Ahead of its official release, Indiana University is one of a few venues that will host a free, exclusive screening this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Whittenberger Auditorium — all because of one dedicated alumnus.

About a year and a half ago, in the early hours of the morning, film financier and producer Danny Chan read the script to "Barbarian" in his basement while his family slept peacefully upstairs.

"I've watched a lot of horror films, but when I read this, it was so different. I've never seen anything like it," Chan said. "I was getting chills as I was reading it."

Chan is the film's co-financier and executive producer and CEO of its associated production company.

"Having Disney distribute (a film) is very rare for an independent film producer (and) financier," Chan said. "It's like unprecedented.”

Though his team at Almost Never Films has produced over 20 features, Chan is a relatively new kid on the block. He started his production company six years ago while in his late 30s after a finance career in stem cell research overseas.

“One of my greatest personal memories was my dad taking me to see double features when I was a kid. Movies were always like my favorite thing, my favorite pastime,” Chan said. “But I never thought in a million years I could be doing anything around it because I've never looked at movies and thought, ‘You know, I could do this or that.’”

IU alumnus' unconventional journey from college campus to Hollywood film set

Chan broke into the film industry through pure happenstance. After a successful finance career in China, he returned to his hometown of Indianapolis, where he received a call from a friend about someone in the film industry who needed his help.

During production of the film "Pali Road," a Chinese actress expressed her desire to leave in the middle of shooting. Because he had lived in China and is fluent in the language, Chan spoke with the actress' agent and smoothed over the cultural misunderstanding on set. To ensure the production's success, Chan briefly relocated to Hawaii during shooting, where he got a real taste for the industry.

Soon after, he founded Almost Never Films. He noted finance comes naturally to him, so it wasn't difficult to direct his expertise in this new field.

“I'm mostly receiving scripts. People ask me to help finance the movie, and I contribute capital. You help structure the financing because it's not someone who comes in and goes, ‘Hey, I'm gonna write the check for the whole film,’" Chan said. "Many of the films I deal with, there's intricate financing involved, and so I help with that.”

For example, he considers what state is best to shoot the feature based on tax incentives and figures out various ways to raise funding for production costs.

As he began working on films, Chan noticed he has a different approach than his peers.

"A lot of film financiers don't read scripts. I mean, I read scripts of all the things I finance, even though you're really supposed to be looking at the financial aspects of it," Chan said.

While "Barbarian" doesn't have the biggest budget, it is the most high-profile and riskiest endeavor for Chan.

“This is the first movie that I've done this kind of financing. Usually the financing I do is very, very conservative. This one is just regular equity, which means you could lose millions of dollars (or) you can make millions of dollars. It's extremely risky,” Chan said, adding while it has caused him some anxiety, it's also been "the most fun" to work on.

It's also been a personal triumph. During the summer, Chan visited Disney World with his family, visiting its AMC theater for the new "Minions" movie.

“I saw the 'Barbarian' poster inside the theater and I just about freaked out, like I ran over there. My daughter, who’s 8, was like, ‘Oh, Daddy, I see your name,’” Chan said.

'Barbarian' promises unforgettable theater experience at IU: 'jumping in their seats'

When Chan attended the film's initial screen test in Long Beach, he heard attendees describe the film with all the right words — "original," "unique" and "scary."

"I think they could relate to that kind of situation where they go to a town, they get an Airbnb, and it doesn't turn out to be what it's supposed to be," Chan said.

Film stars Skarsgård and Campbell are no strangers to the horror genre. Skarsgård rose to national prominence with his performance in the 2017 film franchise of Stephen King's "It" while Campbell received critical praise for her work in an unforgettable episode ("Hang the DJ") of "Black Mirror," a Netflix television series that often blends science fiction with speculative horror.

"I think the college crowd really enjoys horror films. That's where the push to the college kids are," Chan said. "I'm hoping at IU that, when this thing shows, people will be jumping in their seats and just having a great time.”

Following the screening, Chan will host a question and answer segment about his experience breaking into the film industry as an outsider.

"This is the industry of lots of noise and failures that are temporary until you get something. But I think a lot of people don't understand that because you're gonna get discouraged, which I get, but you really, really have to power through it," Chan said. "I don't think that's just like a movie industry lesson. It's just kind of a lesson about life — don't give up and keep going. For all the very successful people I've met in the film industry, all of them had the same experience, which is failure, failure, failure (at first).”

The screening is free for all attendees and seating will be on a first come, first served basis. IU students can RSVP at https://bit.ly/3wxky9o, where their access to seating will be prioritized. Close to the show's start, IU personnel will allow nonstudents and students without an RSVP in to fill open seats.

Reach Rachel Smith at rksmith@heraldt.com or on Twitter @RachelSmithNews.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: 'Barbarian' screening: Horror film funded by IU alum Danny Chan