Rosario: David Dastmalchian and others join Emeraude Toubia in high concept horror film

David Dastmalchian of Ant-Man, The Suicide Squad, Oppenheimer, The Last Voyage of the Demeter, and The Boogeyman (among many other credits) has signed on to join previously announced lead actress Emeraude Toubia – who is best known for playing the character Isabelle Lightwood in 55 episodes of the Freeform TV series Shadowhunters (a.k.a. Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments) – in the cast of the “high concept” horror film Rosario, which will mark the feature directorial debut of Felipe Vargas. Also joining the cast are José Zúñiga (Twilight), Diana Lein (Fear the Walking Dead), Emilia Faucher (Coda), and Paul Ben-Victor (The Irishman).

Scripted by Alan Trezza (We Summon the Darkness), Rosario will see Toubia taking on the role of the title character, a successful stockbroker on Wall Street who is forced to spend the night with the body of her estranged grandmother Griselda, who has abruptly died. While waiting for the ambulance and her father Oscar (Zúñiga) to arrive, a heavy snowstorm locks her inside Griselda’s apartment, surrounded by unfriendly neighbors including the watchful Joe (Dastmalchian). As the night endlessly stretches on, twisted and menacing supernatural forces that have possessed Griselda’s corpse begin their assault on Rosario. Now the target of a deadly family curse that spans generations, in a desperate attempt to break the evil, Rosario must battle everything she knows about her past to save herself and her soul.

The film is being produced by Jon Silk of Silk Mass and Javier Chapa and Phillip Braun of Mucho Mas. Toubia serves as an executive producer alongside Bruce Barshop, Vincent Cordero, Simon Wise, Kristopher Wynne, and Highland Film Group’s Arianne Fraser and Delphine Perrier. Mucho Mas Media is providing the financing. Highland Film Group is handling the worldwide distribution sales.

Rosario is scheduled to begin filming in Bogotá, Colombia in mid-November. The project has secured a SAG interim agreement, so it will be able to go into production even if the Screen Actors Guild strike is still going on at the time.

The producers provided the following statement: “It’s with great pleasure that we’re joined by such immense talent in David, Jose, Diana, Emilia, and Paul. Together with Emeraude Toubia, this amazing cast is going to bring Felipe’s terrifying vision of familial horror to life in such a memorable way, and we can’t wait to get them on set to make some magic.“

Fraser added: “We are delighted to begin filming Rosario in Colombia and cannot wait for cameras to roll on this smart and chilling film in the vein of the Blumhouse movies.”

Beyond Rosario, Vargas is also attached to direct a Leprechaun reimagining.

Does Rosario sound interesting to you? What do you think of David Dastmalchian and the other new cast members? Let us know by leaving a comment below.