Rachel Weisz has signed on to star in and produce the psychological suspense thriller Séance on a Wet Afternoon, based on Mark McShane’s 1961 novel of the same name. Deadline reports that Enola Holmes director Harry Bradbeer had originally been on board to direct the film, but since he got caught up in the making of Enola Holmes 2 he is being replaced at the helm by Let the Right One In director Tomas Alfredson.
Bradbeer remains involved with Séance on a Wet Afternoon as executive producer, and also crafted the story with screenwriter Jack Thorne. The film will follow
a self-proclaimed psychic medium who convinces her husband to kidnap a child so she can help the police solve the crime and achieve renown for her abilities. When her true intentions come to light, however, her husband realizes the plan threatens to consume them both.
Séance on a Wet Afternoon was previously brought to the screen in 1964, with a film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Richard Attenborough and Kim Stanley. That movie was well-received by critics and even earned Stanley an Academy Award nomination, but was such a commercial failure that it helped bring about the downfall of the Allied Film Makers production company. Séance on a Wet Afternoon also served as the inspiration for a 2000 Japanese TV movie simply called Séance.
This Séance on a Wet Afternoon is coming to us from Legendary. Robyn Slovo is producing with Weisz, Legendary, Emma Forbes, and Michael Attenborough. Weisz’s producing partner Polly Stokes executive produces through Weisz’s company Apetite Pictures. Thorne is also an executive producer.
Weisz won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2005 film The Constant Gardener, and earned another nomination for her performance in 2018’s The Favourite. She’s currently working on an Amazon series inspired by the David Cronenberg film Dead Ringers and the novel it was based on, Twins by Bari Wood and Jack Geasland.