Lee Cronin, director of New Line’s upcoming Evil Dead Rise, will reunite with the studio , directing original horror film Thaw.
Cronin, at this year’s SXSW, will also overwrite the current draft.
Gunpowder & Sky’s Van Toffler and David Gale and Aperture’s Adam Goldworm, who produced the critically acclaimed TV series My Friend Dahmer and formed Final Girl Support Group at HBO, which is in production.
Set years after the polar ice caps have melted and sea levels rise, the story revolves around a group of survivors at sea looking for a new home. Their prayers were answered and a habitable town was discovered, until, that is, they encountered a new nightmare living beneath the surface.
Thaw Originally written by Jeremy Passmore, who worked with his manager, Goldworm, to develop the project into an original specification. It was sold to Gunpowder & Sky, the media company that produced 50 States of Fright, and was co-developed as a feature .
Passmore has some history with the New Line, as he was on the company’s Dwayne Johnson hit with his writing partner Andre Fabrizio San Andreas . (He is also credited with co-writing the 2019 remake of Red Dawn Famous for screenplay.)
Cronin’s hiring shows New Line’s appreciation for the rising filmmaker’s talents full of confidence. The filmmaker grew up in a seaside village in Ireland and has made a name for himself with short films including Paranormal Chiller Ghost Train , which won a Silver Méliès for Best European Fantasy Short Film Awards.
His debut feature The Hole in the Ground at the Sundance Film Festival at
Premiere to critical acclaim. Released by A50, the film earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Breakthrough Director.
Evil Dead Rise was originally slated for HBO Max, but was an excellent early test run, and The enthusiastic response to the trailer at CineEurope last year put the film on track for a theatrical release. The film’s opening date is April . It currently has a rating of 21 on Rotten Tomatoes, an impressive feat for a bloody and long-running horror installment in the franchise.
Cronin was represented by CAA, MGMT Entertainment, Linda Seifert Management and attorney Jeff Hynick. Passmore is represented by Aperture, Verve and Eclipse Law.
