Bill Skarsgard, Maika Monroe to Star in Thriller ‘Villains’
The script by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen was on the 2016 Black List.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – Bill Skarsgard, who played Pennywise the Clown in It, and It Follows star Maika Monroe have signed on to star in Villains, a dark comedy-thriller from The Realm and Star Thrower Entertainment.
Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who wrote the script that was on the 2016 Black List, will direct.
The story centers on a pair of amateur criminals who, after breaking into a suburban home, stumble upon a young girl chained in the basement and two sadistic homeowners who will do anything to keep that secret from getting out.
Tim and Trevor White are producing via their company Star Thrower, which was involved in Steven Spielberg’s The Post and also produced Matt Spicer’s Indie Spirit award-winning Ingrid Goes West. Star Thrower’s production head Allan Mandelbaum is also producing, as is Garrick Dion of Realm, which will see its latest movie, Prospect, premiere later this month at SXSW.
BRON’s Aaron L. Gilbert and Creative Wealth Media’s Jason Cloth are executive producing. Rick Rickertsen and Mary Solomon are co-producing.
Endeavor Content is representing North American rights.
Skarsgard is coming off the Sundance premiere of Assassination Nation, which was produced by BRON and picked up by NEON.
Monroe recently starred alongside Jennifer Garner in The Tribes of Palos Verdes and alongside Timothée Chalamet in Hot Summer Nights.
Skarsgard is repped by WME and Magnolia Entertainment, and Monroe is repped by WME and Management 360. Berk and Olsen are repped by UTA, Kaplan/Perrone and Frankfurt Kurnit.
Bill attended the Calvin Klein show during New York Fashion Week held at New York Stock Exchange (February 13).
Bill attended the Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2018 Men’s Runway Show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City (February 6).
A new teaser has been released for the new Hulu series Castle Rock! Check it out below.
From Stephen King and Executive Producer J.J. Abrams, Castle Rock is an original suspense/thriller — a first-of-its-kind reimagining that explores the themes and worlds uniting the entire King canon, while brushing up against some of his most iconic and beloved stories. Starring André Holland, Sissy Spacek, Bill Skarsgård, Melanie Lynskey and Scott Glenn, the Castle Rock series premieres this Summer.
Huge Deal! NEON Teams With Russo Bros-Led AGBO In $10M+ Deal For ‘Assassination Nation’ – Sundance
DEADLINE – EXCLUSIVE UPDATE: NEON indeed landed Assassination Nation, but they have a partner in what is the first eight-figure deal of the Sundance Film Festival. NEON acquired the picture with AGBO for north of $10 million for worldwide rights, and a wide release commitment. AGBO is the new progressive production company launched by Joe and Anthony Russo. 30WEST arranged the deal on behalf of Neon and AGBO, and Endeavor Content repped the film.
The film stars Odessa Young, Suki Waterhouse, Hari Nef, Abra, Bill Skarsgard, Bella Thorne, Colman Domingo, Joel McHale and Aniki Noni Rose. Oroducers are David Goyer, Anita Gou, Kevin Turen, Aaron L. Gilbert, Matthew J. Malek and Manu Gargi.
EARLIER EXCLUSIVE: After another all-night bidding battle, NEON is negotiating toward a deal to acquire the provocative Assassination Nation, sources said. This would mark its second major buy of Sundance, following yesterday’s deal for Monsters and Men, and the announcement that 30WEST acquired a majority stake in the distribution company started by Tom Quinn and Tim League and which is in the awards mix with Toronto acquired film I, Tonya.
Directed and written by Sam Levinson, the film tells the story of what happens when a social media-savvy high school senior and her friends observe the results of what happens when a provocateur starts posting details from the private digital lives of everyone in their small town — it turns the town upside down. Browser histories, direct messages, illegal downloads, secret text chains, and worse. It creates a worst-case scenario of what is possible in the digital age.
