Be it slashers, possession movies, or curses like “It Follows,” teen horror endures in its many iterations. And a new high school horror movie on the way from Black Bear sounds like a fresh take on the premise of David Robert Mitchell‘s 2014 film. Deadline reports that “Whistle” will start production soon in Ontario, Canada, with “Logan” actress Dafne Keen and “Yellowjackets” star Sophie Nélisse leading the cast.
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So what’s “Whistle” about? Owen Egerton writes the script based on his own short story, about a group of high school misfits who stumble upon a a cursed Aztec Death Whistle that summons their future deaths to hunt them down. As more people blow the whistle and die, the friends try to figure out where the deadly artifact came from and how they might save themselves. So, it certainly sounds like “It Follows” with a healthy dash of “Talk To Me,” A24‘s summer box-office winner from the Phillippou Brothers.
Keen and Nélisses aren’t the only announced cast members for “Whistle.” Sky Yang, Percy Hynes White, and Nick Frost join them on the feature. And “Gangs Of London” director Corin Hardy will helm the Canada-Ireland co-production. Hardy’s no stranger to horror, either: he directed “The Nun” back in 2018. David Gross produces “Whistle” through No Trace Camping, as does Macdara Kelleher through Wild Atlantic Pictures. As noted earlier, shooting on the film starts in Ontario next month, as production is under an ACTRA contract, not a SAG-AFTRA one.
Hardy references a lot of teen movie touch stones in his press statement for his next film. “The premise of “Whistle” is simple, immediate and has a fresh, haunting mythology. A cursed object that summons your future death to come and find you. The screenplay has echoes of some of my favourite classic horrors like “The Ring,” “A Nightmare On Elm Street“ or “It Follows,” with elements of seminal high school movies “The Breakfast Club” and “Donnie Darko.” I’m thrilled to be working with this brilliant young cast to bring this inventive, terrifying and cinematic new horror to death… I mean life.”
Gross had his own plug: “We couldn’t be happier to be working with Corin Hardy and this incredibly talented cast on “Whistle” – with his ability to combine strong visual sensibilities with atmosphere and emotion and a propensity for relentless, imaginative set pieces Corin has a proven track record at getting horror just right and we can’t wait to see him bring his unique take to Owen Egerton’s script.”
Hardy’s last horror movie “The Nun,” part of the mega-successful “The Conjuring” franchise, rake in $336 million globally, so Black Bear must envision “Whistle” a potential big hit. Expect this one to get a Fall release next year, in time for Halloween 2024.