EXCLUSIVE: Willa Holland (Arrow) and Paul Sparks (Home of Cards) will lead The Mortuary Assistant, a characteristic adaptation of the bestselling horror online game created by Brian Clarke, which is presently in manufacturing in Missouri.
Hailing from Epic Video games and its specialty horror label Dread, The Mortuary Assistant facilities on Rebecca Owens, a current mortuary science graduate who takes an evening shift job at River Fields Mortuary. Initially, the job appears simple — embalming our bodies, finishing paperwork, and holding issues tidy. However as soon as Rebecca begins working the evening shift, issues take a darkish flip.
Holland performs Rebecca, the younger lady confronting terrifying supernatural forces, with Sparks as Raymond Delver, Rebecca’s mysterious mortician boss, who seems to be a mentor, but in addition a possible menace. Directed by Jeremiah Kipp, the movie is billed as a brand new chapter within the story that may increase on the sport’s world and mythology, delving deeper into the lore of the demonic entities plaguing River Fields.
Tracee Beebe and Brian Clarke tailored the screenplay. Patrick Ewald’s Epic Footage is producing by way of its horror outfit, Dread, alongside Cole Payne’s Traverse Media. The manufacturing is financed by Epic Footage and the UK-based Creativity Capital. Revealed in April 2023, The Mortuary Assistant was launched initially on the Steam platform for PCs, although its now additionally out there on Xbox, Ps, and the Nintendo Swap.
In an announcement to Deadline, director Kipp stated partly that each he and the sport’s creator, Clarke, “reply to character-driven storytelling inside a disturbing horror area. As a result of his influences have been largely cinematic, the entire course of has organically felt like an growth of his distinctive gameplay. We’ve captured the ambiance of singular dread that gamers responded to so powerfully – this film will likely be scary as hell.”
For Clarke, “Seeing the mortuary assistant evolve over time from a small prototype to a full characteristic movie is past something I may have imagined as a solo developer. Jeremiah Kipp is an insanely expert director, and it has been one of many highlights of my life working with him. Jeremiah and the complete staff at Epic Footage have completed a tremendous job capturing the spirit of the sport whereas including their very own distinctive cinematic aptitude. It’s an honor to see Willa and Paul carry these characters to life together with the remainder of the movie crew. I really feel extraordinarily lucky and might’t await followers to see The Mortuary Assistant increase into new territory.”
The Mortuary Assistant’s Holland is greatest recognized for her starring function as Thea Queen, aka Speedy, in seven seasons of The CW’s Arrow. First gaining recognition for a job on hit collection The O.C., her different TV credit embody Gossip Woman, The Flash, and Primarily based on a True Story. Function credit embody A Summer time in Genoa, Legion, Rod Lurie’s Straw Canines, and The Soiled South. She is is repped by Paradigm and three Arts Leisure.
An Emmy nominee, Sparks is understood for activates collection like Home of Playing cards and Boardwalk Empire, in addition to movies like Mud, Midnight Particular, and The Bikeriders. He’s lately been seen starring within the Apple collection Bodily and is a part of the solid of Prime Video’s thriller restricted collection The Higher Sister, which premieres on Could 29. He’s repped by Gersh and Circle Administration + Manufacturing.
Kipp has beforehand directed the Shudder Authentic Slapface — winner of the Viewers Award at Cinequest — together with sci-fi horror pic Black Wake, Don’t Decide Up starring Keith David, Draw Up & Stare starring Michael O’Keefe and Melissa Leo, and different titles.
Co-writer Beebe is repped by First Story Leisure.
