According to The Hollywood Reporter, Emmy nominee Matt Smith (The Crown) and Morfydd Clark (Saint Maud) have been tapped for the leading roles in the upcoming supernatural horror film titled Starve Acre, based on Andrew Michael Hurley’s novel of the same name. Production is expected to begin this spring in the UK.
“Daniel is one of the most exciting filmmakers working today and we’re thrilled to be bringing his adaptation of Andrew Michael Hurley’s extraordinary novel to the screen,” Producer Tessa Ross said in a statement. “Starve Acre is already a genre defining modern classic – Daniel’s singular vision and this exceptional cast bring great depth and strength to this evocative story.”
RELATED: Supernatural Drama Dead Day Gets Series Order at Peacock
Starve Acre will be written and directed by Daniel Kokotajlo (Apostasy). It is being described as a modern horror that will be exploring inherited trauma and loss within a world ruled by supernatural folklore.
“Set in rural 1970s England, the film centers around Richard and Juliette whose seemingly idyllic family life is thrown into turmoil when their son starts acting out of character, creating an insurmountable wedge between the once happy couple,” reads the synopsis. “At Starve Acre, their remote family home, archaeologist Richard buries himself in exploring a folkloric myth that the ancient oak tree on their land is imbued with phenomenal powers. While his wife Juliette turns to the local community to find some kind of peace, Richard obsessively digs deeper. An unexpected discovery soon occupies the couple’s attention and dark and sinister forces, unwittingly allowed into the home, offer a disturbing possibility of reconnection between them.”
RELATED: Lucy Liu to Lead Blumhouse’s Stephen King Miniseries Later
Starve Acre will be produced by Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, and Emmy Duffy, with Cornerstone reuniting with Kokotajlo to handle the project’s worldwide sales.
Both Smith and Clark are set to star in two of this year’s highly-anticipated fantasy dramas, with Smith portraying Daemon Targaryen in HBO’s House of the Dragon and Clark to play the young version of Galadriel in Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
