‘Fall’ & ’47 Meters Down’ Outfit Tea Shop Lines Up Next Survival Thriller ‘The Bayou’, Architect Launching Sales — Cannes Market
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EXCLUSIVE: British genre specialist Tea Shop, known for 47 Meters Down and coming off breakout thriller Fall, is lining up its next survival pic in the shape of The Bayou, which Architect is launching for sales in Cannes.
The movie, also produced by fledgling UK outfit Cowboy Cosmonaut, crash-lands a group of friends in the water-logged, inhospitable Louisiana swamplands where they’re hunted by a fearsome, primordial apex predator.
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Megan Best (Seance) leads the unfortunate survivors, out of their depth, who are picked off one-by-one by a relentless pack of gators, led by a ferocious alpha female. Filming is being lined up for Q4, 2023.
The Bayou, written by Gavin Mehrtens from a story by Ashley Holberry, will be directed by Matthew Ninaber (Death Valley) and is produced by Mehrtens and Holberry for Cowboy Cosmonaut and by Mark Lane and James Harris for Tea Shop Productions. Architect will executive-produce.
Following their work on Fall, UK visual effects outfit Koala FX (Jeepers Creepers: Reborn) is handling The Bayou’s VFX and monster creation.
Low-budget thriller Fall (2022), about two friends who find themselves stuck at the top of a 2,000-foot radio tower, made $17.5M at the box office and was a word-of-mouth hit on Netflix, prompting development of a sequel.
Best (pictured below) will next be seen in Netflix and Ace Entertainment’s Time Cut, alongside Madison Bailey, and MGM and Matt Tolmach’s adaptation of Norman Partridge’s horror novel Dark Harvest. Both movies are in post-production.
Canadian director Ninaber is in post-production on Knight’s War for Epic Pictures, and his movie Death Valley was acquired by Shudder.
Calum Gray, Architect partner, said: “The Bayou is a thrilling, no-holds barred, white knuckle ride that will keep today’s audiences wholly immersed and on the edge of their seats. The movie has a whole heap of tricks up its sleeve and will delight audiences with its ingenuity and fresh take on the survival genre. We’re delighted to be jumping on this excellent rollercoaster with Gavin, Ashley and the Tea Shop team!”
Gavin Mehrtens and Ashley Holberry met at Working Title, where they worked on titles including Les Misérables and Anna Karenina. Their outfit Cowboy Cosmonaut is in pre-production on Northern Ireland Screen-backed The Morrigan, from filmmaker Colum Eastwood. The company is executive-producing true crime saga Mister Babylon for Gaumont.
Architect, which made its market debut at the EFM in Berlin, will also be shopping horror Mindful, starring Jenny Slate and produced by Tracey Nyberg and Aggregate Films; and Daisy-May Hudson’s Lollipop, for the BFI, BBC Film and Parkville Pictures. Their slate also includes Sundance feature doc 32 Sounds.
Megan Best is represented by Play Management.
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