One Hour Photo director set for horror film Mother Land

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Mark Romanek had made a lot of music videos, but when it comes to the feature side of his career, he's not a filmmaker who churns out new movies on a regular basis. There were eight years between his feature debut One Hour Photo (watch it HERE) and his second feature Never Let Me Go (watch that one HERE), and now he's finally set to make his third feature, eleven years after his second. Romanek has signed on to direct the horror film Mother Land for Lionsgate and 21 Laps.

Scripted by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby, Mother Land follows 

a family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Their safety and their surroundings come into question when one of the children questions if the evil is real.

Lionsgate's Erin Westerman had this to say about the project: 

To have Mark Romanek board this project says everything you need to know about the quality of this material and where we are taking it tonally and artistically."

Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen are producing Mother Land, with Aaron Janus and Chelsea Kujawa overseeing the production for Lionsgate and Emily Morris doing the same for 21 Laps.

Between features and music videos, Romanek has also directed episodes of the shows The Whispers and Vinyl, the pilot for a version of Locke & Key that didn't get picked up, and the pilot for Tales from the Loop. In February of 2007 he signed on to direct the 2010 version of The Wolfman, but he left the project over creative differences with Universal in January of 2008, just two months before filming was scheduled to begin. He was quickly replaced by Joe Johnston and The Wolfman stayed on schedule.