Three months ago, it was announced that Destry Allyn Spielberg – a daughter of Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw – would be making her feature directorial debut with an action film called Four Assassins (and a Funeral), which was described as being like “The Kingsman meets Knives Out meets Succession“. But Four Assassins (and a Funeral) wasn’t quite ready to go into production yet, so another project has leap-frogged that one to become Spielberg’s first feature. The “elevated genre film” Please Don’t Feed the Children is now set to start filming in New Mexico next month, with Spielberg at the helm and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) in the lead.
Spielberg is expected to circle back to Four Assassins (and a Funeral) after Please Don’t Feed the Children is finished.
Scripted by Paul Bertino, Please Don’t Feed the Children has the following synopsis: After a viral outbreak ravaged the country’s adult population, a group of orphans heads south in search of a new life… only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret.
Judging by that, it sounds like Dockery would be playing the deranged woman.
Please Don’t Feed the Children is being produced by Jason Dubin through his company Perry Street Films, as well as Josh Kesselman and Michael Hagerty.
Deadline informs that Spielberg won Best Thriller at City of Angels Women’s Film Festival in 2022 for her short film, Let Me Go the Right Way. She co-wrote the screenplay with Owen King, and it premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival, with Hopper Penn and Brian D’Arcy James starring. Her work as an actress includes Licorice Pizza and an episode of the miniseries I Know This Much Is True.
Spielberg had this to say about being hired to direct Please Don’t Feed the Children: “I am so grateful to have the opportunity to bring this story to the screen with such a collaborative and inspirational team. This picture is so much more than just a horror film. It’s a dream come true to work with a talent such as Michelle Dockery. I am excited to (word missing) the genre with our incredible cast and crew.“
While I’m interested to see Destry Allyn Spielberg’s directing skills, this project isn’t off to a great start with me, with those “elevated genre film” and “so much more than just a horror film” lines. Well, I look forward to seeing how it turns out regardless.
Does Please Don’t Feed the Children sound interesting to you? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.