‘Evil Dead Rise’ Filmmaker Lee Cronin Launches Doppelgängers Banner, Signs First-Look with New Line (Exclusive)

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Lee Cronin, the Irish filmmaker behind last year’s hit Evil Dead Rise, has joined forces with frequent collaborators John Keville and Macdara Kelleher of Wild Atlantic Pictures to launch Doppelgängers, a new production outfit focused on genre fare.

The company is starting hot out of the gate, signing a first-look deal with New Line Cinema for its feature film projects. New Line released Evil Dead Rise in 2023, with the movie making a splash at last year’s SXSW and going on to gross $147 million worldwide. Cronin and New Line are currently in development on a horror-thriller titled Thaw.

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Under the Doppelgängers banner, the trio will develop genre-focused feature film and television projects for Cronin to write and direct. Cronin will also produce alongside Keville and Kelleher, whose credits range from R-rated comedy Cocaine Bear to acclaimed art house fantasy The Green Knight, which starred Dev Patel.

Cronin said the new company was born out of his “ever-evolving relationship” with Keville, who produced his Sundance breakout, The Hole in the Ground, and Kelleher. “Aligned in our hunger and ambition to create striking stories for wide audiences, we decided to seize the opportunity to formalize our partnership with this new venture,” said Cronin in a statement.

Regarding the deal with New Line, Cronin stated, “Following a wonderful journey working on Evil Dead Rise, the brilliant team at New Line Cinema have offered us the perfect home for the movies we want to bring to life on the big screen. We couldn’t be more thrilled to continue building our relationship with them.”

Keville and Kelleher noted that Cronin had become a genre auteur with a proven box office track record, a combination that can be hard to find.

“Lee is an inventive creator who always strives to engage audiences with his character driven stories,” the duo stated jointly. “We are thrilled to be building Doppelgängers around his vision and are excited to forge relationships with the most ambitious writers and directors. Collectively, we want Doppelgängers to become a destination for the very best storytellers.”

Cronin and Doppelgängers are represented by CAA, MGMT and attorney Jeff Hynick.

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