SpectreVision, the production company behind the 2019 Lovecraft adaptation “Color Out of Space,” said Wednesday night that it has cut ties with Richard Stanley, the film’s director, after Stanley was accused of abuse by his former partner.
“SpectreVision will no longer work with Richard Stanley,” the company said in a statement posted on Twitter. “We are proud of the talented cast and crew behind COLOR OUT OF SPACE. Yet we are horrified about the charges against its director. We will be donating future revenue from the film to charities devoted to stopping domestic violence.”
In a blog post Tuesday, Stanley’s former partner, Scarlett Amaris detailed multiple instances of abuse and said she filed charges against him in France in 2014.
“I filed charges for Domestic Violence, Assault & Battery against Richard Stanley, my then long term life & creative partner in October, 2014, after he beat the s— out of me… It was not the first time he had beaten me. In fact, he beaten the s— out of me numerous times, but I finally pressed charges against him that time,” Amaris wrote in part. I had been taken to the doctor with two black eyes, a badly sprained possibly broken finger, throttle marks around my throat, bruises all over my head, chest and shoulders, and a concussion. I also had bruises on my head, chest and back that were still healing as he had attacked me at a friend’s apartment in London a few days earlier.”
Attempts to contact Stanley were unsuccessful.
Nicolas Cage starred in the film alongside Joely Richardson, Madeleine Arthur, Brendan Meyer, Julian Hilliard, Elliot Knight, Q’orianka Kilcher and Tommy Chong. Stanley (“Hardware,” “Dust Devil”) directed and co-wrote the screenplay with Amaris.
“Color Out of Space” was financed by Ace Pictures and produced by SpectreVision. The producers include Daniel Noah, Lisa Whalen, Elijah Wood and Josh C. Waller, while the executive producers are Johnny Chang, Peter Wong, Timur Bekbosunov, Emma Lee, Stacy Jorgensen, Elisa Lleras and Michael M. McGuire.