Sunflower: Isabel May joins Jurnee Smollett in farmhouse thriller

Last Updated on March 7, 2024

Isabel May, whose previous credits include the Netflix series Alexa & Katie, a high school sitcom where she played Katie Cooper; Let’s Scare Julie, Run Hide Fight, I Want You Back, and the Yellowstone prequel series 1883, has signed on to join Jurnee Smollett (Birds of Prey) in the thriller Sunflower, which is set to mark the feature directorial debut of writer Misha Green.

Green and Smollett previously worked together on the TV shows Underground and Lovecraft Country. Green created Underground with Joe Pokaski and developed Lovecraft Country from the Matt Ruff novel. Her first directing credit was on an episode of Lovecraft Country.

After spending more than a decade in development hell, Sunflower is finally moving forward at Lionsgate. The screenplay Green wrote for the film was so highly regarded that it was on the Black List back in 2008. The story follows two young women who are held hostage in a prison-like farmhouse by a deranged college professor. As they struggle to survive, they’re forced to face the possibility of fighting each other for their lives.

Back in 2012, Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld were going to produce Sunflower for 20th Century Fox, with Adam Blaiklock (Caught Inside) on board to direct. The current iteration of the project is being produced by Green and Craig J. Flores of Bread and Circuses Entertainment. Meredith Wieck and Aaron Edmonds are overseeing Lionsgate.

Green provided Deadline with the following statement: “Sunflower was the first script I sold when I landed in Hollywood, and now having the opportunity to make it my first feature directorial outing feels like kismet. I couldn’t have hoped for better partners and collaborators than Nathan Kahane, the Lionsgate team, Craig, and Jurnee to help me shepherd it to the big screen.“

Lionsgate’s Nathan Kahane added: “Everyone at our studio was completely drawn in by the way Misha, Jurnee, and the Lovecraft Country team worked so confidently to create a compelling genre series – then subverted the genre and reinvented it through a new lens. That’s the opportunity with Sunflower. The screenplay is unique, thrilling, and flat-out scary. It’s going to make a hell of a movie.“

Sunflower sounds interesting to me, and I’m glad Green is finally getting the chance to get the film made fifteen years after writing the script.

What do you think of Isabel May signing on to star in this thriller with Jurnee Smollett? Are you interested in Sunflower? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

American actress Isabel May was born in Santa Monica, California in the year 2000.