For my money, Jennifer Kent's THE BABADOOK is one of the single best horror films of the past decade. In fact, I loved the film so much that I wrote an in-depth article on it for my now-retired Ink & Pixel column here at JoBlo. It's been a long time since a scary movie truly got underneath my skin, but the paranoia I'd felt after watching THE BABADOOK could not be denied. As you can imagine, I was was very excited to learn that Jennifer Kent is pressing forward with her follow-up film, NIGHTINGALE, and we've even got some new information about it for you.
Today, it's been confirmed that NIGHTINGALE has found both financing and well as a pair of cast members in Aisling Franciosi (THE FALL) and Sam Claflin (THE HUNGER GAMES). NIGHTINGALE is a film set in Tasmania during the year 1825, and follows a 21-year-old Irish convict who bears witness to the horrific murder of her husband and baby by her soldier master. Distraught beyond rational thought, the woman then takes justice into her own hands, by hiring an Aboriginal male tracker to enter the wilderness with her and exact revenge on the people who ruined her life.
Also set to appear in the film are actors Damon Herriman, Ewen Leslie and Harry Greenwood, with Aboriginal Djuki Mala, dancer Baykali Ganambarr and East Arnhem Land indigenous model Magnolia Maymuru filling out the cast. Meanwhile, Bron Creative will produce and co-finance the film along with Bruna Papandrea's Made Up Stories joining in. THE BABADOOK producer Kristina Ceyton will produce the new feature, along with Papandrea. Aaron L. Gilbert, Andy Pollack, Jason Cloth and Brenda Gilbert who will executively produce for Bron, with Ben Browning and Alison Cohen executive producing for FilmNation and Steve Hutensky exec producing for Made Up Stories.
I'll be honest with you, I haven't seen a single frame of this movie and I'm already 100% down with it. Jennifer Kent impressed the bejebus out of me with her psychological horror masterpiece, THE BABADOOK, and I can't wait to see what she does next!
NIGHTINGALE is currently in the stages of pre-production, though we can expect cameras to begin rolling soon now that the project has selected several of its key cast members. While we're waiting for more news on this interesting follow-up, I see no reason not to watch THE BABADOOK again, which is available now on Digital, DVD, Blu-Ray and select streaming services.