Hugh Grant is in negotiations to play the lead role in the upcoming film – Heretic from A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, which A24 supports.
Heretic, a horror film written and to be directed by Beck and Woods, has an unspecified premise. But according to sources, it centers on two missionaries who try to convert a violent guy.
The A24 project is aiming for a July beginning, but like many films shooting this summer, production could be impacted by a potential SAG-AFTRA strike. Members overwhelmingly decided earlier this week to approve the possibility of a strike in the event that a new contract cannot be concluded by June 30.
The New York-based independent studio has had success with the horror-thriller subgenre. Examples include Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar, Ti West and Mia Goth’s X flicks, which include the impending threequel Maxxine, and the recent Ari Aster releases Hereditary and Midsommar. Earlier this year, A24 won a competitive scenario to acquire the popular Sundance supernatural horror film Talk to Me.
Beck and Woods made their name writing A Quiet Place and have since moved on to directing projects such as the 2019 thriller Haunt and Sony’s sci-fi film 65, starring Adam Driver. They most recently appeared in theatres with the 20th-century horror film they wrote, The Boogeyman. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Anonymous Content, and CAA represent the duo.
Grant, who CAA represents, most recently appeared in Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, a Paramount film, in theatres. The actor has recently showcased all-new facets of his range in projects like the hit psychological thriller The Undoing, a limited series that was HBO’s most-watched show of 2020, and Prime Video’s A Very English Scandal, in which he played Jeremy Thorpe, a member of the UK Parliament tried and acquitted on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder his ex-boyfriend.
He will next be seen alongside Timothee Chalamet in Warner’s Willy Wonka biopic Wonka. Other planned projects for him include the HBO drama The Regime, which also stars Kate Winslet and Andrea Riseborough, and the Pop-Tarts movie Unfrosted, which Jerry Seinfeld directed.
