Macaulay Culkin

From BME Encyclopedia

It may come as a surprise to many that the famous child actor Macaulay Culkin of Home Alone fame is included in the BME encyclopedia. What many people may not know is that he spent some time being courted for a starring role in the aborted film, The Body Piercer.

After his "final" movie, Richy Rich in 1994, Macaulay dropped out of the public eye. However, in early 1998 rumors started to appear that Macaulay was to re-emerge in a movie described as "a sort of Trainspotting meets Reservoir Dogs, an art piece, very music driven, and very hip," alongside Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Gail Harris and Steve Dorf. Filming was said to be happening in Venice Beach.

At this point Macaulay had been out of the public limelight for long enough that he was developing almost a "cult" status, and especially after appearing in Sonic Youth's Sunday video he began developing serious street cred.

By mid-1998, Macaulay had turned down the film due to a "poor storyline." The movie was then rewritten from a "bitter love triangle" to a comedy, and was said to be "more believable." As of July 1998 it was "officially off," but then in October 1998 it was announced that Macaulay was happy with yet another rewrite (the third) and the project was back on. According to the London Daily Telegraph,

He made his decision to return to acting after watching his brother Kieran's starring turn in The Mighty.

That's right, The Body Piercer was set to be his glorious comeback, and his official reinvention as a hip adult actor. In early 1999 the movie was said to be filming, albeit with a low budget. However, it should come as no surprise that by March of 1999 the film was again being listed as an aborted project.

After taking time off to do some stage work in Britain, Macaulay appeared as Michael Alig in 2003's true-story Party Monster (which some fan sites imply is the remnants of The Body Piercer); and, in 2004, co-starred in the Mandy Moore film Saved (which is also the film which forced BME to rename its movie Uvatiarru). His fans eagerly watch as his career takes off again.

...and who knows—is this the last we've heard of The Body Piercer?