Send Help: Rachel McAdams in talks to star in Sam Raimi horror thriller

Rachel McAdams played Christine Palmer in director Scott Derrickson’s contribution to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the 2016 film Doctor Strange – but there was a time when we were told that Christine would not be appearing the follow-up, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She did end up in that movie, though, and by working on that film, McAdams had the chance to work with director Sam Raimi. Now Deadline reports that Raimi and McAdams are aiming to re-team on the 20th Century Studios horror thriller Send Help, which Raimi will be producing and directing. McAdams is currently in talks to star in the film, but Deadline cautions that these negotiations are in early stages, and nothing is definite at this point.

Back in 2007, it was rumored that Sam Raimi would be producing a fantasy film with a screenplay written by Freddy vs. Jason and Friday the 13th 2009 writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. That didn’t pan out, but a decade later Raimi considered directing a Bermuda Triangle project that once had Shannon and Swift working on the script. Again, that didn’t pan out, with Scott Derrickson and more recently Marc Webb picking up the project after Raimi dropped it. In 2019, it was announced that Raimi would be directing an untitled island horror thriller, working from a script by Shannon and Swift. Then the pandemic hit and Raimi went on to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness… but now he has circled back to the island horror thriller, and A Quiet Place writers Scott Beck and Bryan Woods have done a rewrite of the script.  previously worked with Raimi on the Adam Driver dinosaur movie 65 and the anthology series 50 States of Fright. They wrote and executive produced the Stephen King adaptation The Boogeyman for 20th Century Studios.

Raimi is producing Send Help alongside Zainab Azizi, the President of his company Raimi Productions.

When Send Help was first announced, it was said to be like “Misery meets Cast Away” in tone. That’s still the description being given, as Deadline mentioned, “the film is described as a two-hander horror thriller set on an island, falling somewhere between Rob Reiner’s Stephen King adaptation Misery and Robert Zemeckis’ classic Castaway.” 20th Century hasn’t officially given it a greenlight yet, but here’s hoping they will soon.

Film scooper Daniel Richtman recently revealed that Send Help has the following logline: Comedy-adventure horror about a female put-upon employee and her jerk boss. On a business flight together with their company, the plane crashes on an island and only those two make it. She has serious survival skills which means she’s his only hope.

Richtman also shared character details: LINDA: Smartest person in the room, but no one takes her seriously. Actor can’t be overly comedic, has to be believable in serious office setting. Eyed Sandra Bullock. BRADLEY: LINDA’S misogynistic boss.

How does Send Help sound to you? What do you think of Rachel McAdams being in talks to star in the film? Let us know by leaving a comment below.