Matilda: The Musical star Alisha Weir will star in Universal’s untitled monster movie being directed by Radio Silence, the filmmaking collective behind the recent Scream films.
Weir joins Scream star Melissa Barrera in the feature project, which will be directed by Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett. Radio Silence’s Chad Villella is producing alongside William Sherak, Paul Neinstein and James Vanderbilt of Project X Entertainment. Tripp Vinson is also producing.
Plot details are being kept in the trunk of a car, but the project was at one point titled Dracula’s Daughter. That project centered on a group of kidnappers who abduct a band of young people, one of whom ends up being the titular character. Woe then befalls the kidnappers.
Weir is playing the kidnappee who proves to be more than she appears with Barrera playing one of the kidnappers.
The script was written by Stephen Sheilds, with revisions by Guy Busick.
Without coping to the project’s plot or lineage (Dracula’s Daughter, was a classic Universal horror movie produced in 1936), the studio is noting that the untitled horror feature is in the vein of the Universal’s recent movies such as Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and the Nicolas Cage-starring Renfield in that it will be “a unique take on legendary monster lore and will represent a fresh, new direction for how to celebrate these classic characters.”
Jay Polidoro, Holly Goline, Kelly Cannon and Jacqueline Garell are overseeing the project for the studio.
Weir is the Irish actress who nabbed the plum part as the titular lead in Netflix’s adaptation of Matilda, which translated the musical take on the beloved Roald Dahl novel. The actress, only 11 years when cast in the production, more than held her own against co-stars Emma Thompson, Andrea Riseborough and Lashana Lynch, with the movie proving to be a hit with critics and audiences. It was nominated for a BAFTA for outstanding British film.
Weir, repped by CAA and Maureen V Ward at Maureen V Ward Talent Agency, will next be seen in Wicked Little Letters alongside Olivia Coleman and Jessie Buckley.
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