‘Willy’s Wonderland’ Director Kevin Lewis Boards ‘The Accursed’ With Mena Suvari, Sarah Grey (EXCLUSIVE)

Brent Lang
·3 min read
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Kevin Lewis will follow up “Willy’s Wonderland” by directing “The Accursed,” a new horror movie about demonic possession that its creators predict will be like if “Sam Raimi and Dario Argento had a love child and James Wan was its uncle.”

Mena Suvari (“American Beauty”), Sarah Grey (Netflix’s “The Order” and DC’s “Legends of Tomorrow”), and Alexis Knapp (“Pitch Perfect” franchise) head up the cast, which also includes Meg Foster (“The Lords of Salem”) and Sarah Dumont (“Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse”). “Willy’s Wonderland,” an action-comedy horror film, became a pandemic era favorite when it was released on VOD and in limited theatrical release last February.

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Rob Kennedy (“Midnight Man”) penned the screenplay for “The Accursed.” According to the official description, it centers on a young woman who faces a horrifying past. When her estranged mother dies by suicide, Elly (Grey) is forced to return home from volunteering as a nurse abroad. Determined to sell the family home and get her life back on track, she finds herself haunted by terrifying visions of her mother. Consumed by guilt and eager for a quick escape, Elly accepts the offer from Alma (Suvari) as a temporary caregiver to look after the comatose Ms. Ambrose (Foster) in her isolated cabin. But Alma has nefarious plans for Elly and she soon is confronted with Mary Lynn (Knapp), a witch hunter who is hellbent on lifting the demonic curse that has plagued her family for generations. Elly discovers that Ms. Ambrose has a history in the black arts, as well as a mysterious connection to Elly’s mother. As she tries to unlock the truth with her friend Beth (Dumont), it becomes all too clear that Elly was lured to the cabin under false pretenses.

“The Accursed” is being produced by Marcus Englefield and George Lee for Storyoscopic Films. Executive producers are Scott Harbert, Jeremy Ross, Fred Hedman, Rob Kennedy and Edward Kennedy. Co-producer is Ann Carli. Evolution Pictures is financing “The Accursed,” while GFM Film Sales is handling worldwide sales.

“The ability to work closely on a film rooted in demonic possession has been on my bucket list; it is a genre I am passionate about,” Lewis states. “This opportunity, to blend an incredible story with working with an exceptional female driven cast is a tremendous moment for me as a director and horror lover. I am equally excited to be bringing back so many of the team from ‘Willy’s Wonderland,’ like David Newbert (DP), Ryan Liebert (Editor) and Emoi (Composer).”

“We’re delighted to be working with Kevin and his team on this truly terrifying film. We were immediately convinced by the film’s potential and bringing this unique opportunity to the marketplace, which furthers our ambitions for Evolution Pictures and its growing slate of high concept genre films,” said Hedman.

Storyoscopic and Ross are producers on the recently announced Slinky biopic with Tamra Davis directing, and have executive produced the Netflix animated features “Charming,” “Dog Gone Trouble” and “Gnome Alone.”

“We are so excited to work with the Fred and the team at Evolution and our amazingly talented friend Kevin and know that he will create an epic masterpiece to scare the socks off horror fans everywhere!” said producers Lee and Englefield.

Grey is represented by Buchwald, Canadian Agent Red Management and manager Darren Goldberg. Suvari is represented by Innovative and manager Oren Segal. Knapp is represented by longtime manager Alex Gittelson at ROAR. Dumont is represented by Buchwald and manager Bryan Brucks at 831 Entertainment. Foster is managed by Chris Roe Management.

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