Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn's next film will be The Neon Demon

It will be a horror film about 'vicious beauty'

(Wild Bunch)

Nicolas Winding Refn has given details of his next project, a female-led horror movie titled The Neon Demon.

The film, thought to be the same that was originally named I Walk with the Dead, will see Winding Refn returned to the neon hue of LA but leave Gosling behind (whom he collaborated with on Drive and Only God Forgives), switching to a female protagonist.

"One morning I woke and realised I was both surrounded and dominated by women," Refn said in an announcement. "Strangely, a sudden urge was planted in me to make a horror film about vicious beauty.

"After making Drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of Los Angeles, I knew I had to return to tell the story of The Neon Demon. This movie is a manifestation of the strong ties between us and will lead to many more adventures."

(Getty)

Winding Refn will co-write The Neon Demon with Mary Laws, with Carey Mulligan previously being rumoured to be in talks for the lead role.

Last month, the director sanctioned a re-scoring of the Drive soundtrack by BBC Radio 1.

The Neon Demon will shoot in early 2015 and will be released in 2016.