Last year, Ari Aster took us back into the folk horror territory of THE WICKER MAN with his film MIDSOMMAR. Now it has been announced that more folk horror is coming our way, as THE BOY and THE DEVIL INSIDE director William Brent Bell has signed on to direct the film LORD OF MISRULE.
Scripted by THE QUIET ONES' Tom de Ville, LORD OF MISRULE is set in "a small town in the English countryside" and follows
a desperate search for the young daughter of the town's new minister. The girl goes missing during a Solstice Festival. The closer the locals and police get towards finding the girl, the more secrets from the town's past emerge.
There are definitely some similarities to THE WICKER MAN in that synopsis.
A Bigscope Films and The Machine Room production developed with the support of the BFI, the film will be produced by Bell, James Tomlinson, Laurie Cook, and Jason Newmark. Bankside is launching international sales at the European Film Market.
Before we see LORD OF MISRULE, Bell's BRAHMS: THE BOY II will be reaching theatres this weekend, and he's currently in post-production on a supernatural thriller called SEPARATION that stars Rupert Friend and Brian Cox.
Stephen Kelliher of Bankside said,
William Brent Bell's track record in the elevated genre space is second to none and we could not be more excited to embark on LORD OF MISRULE in his highly accomplished hands."
We'll keep you updated on LORD OF MISRULE as we learn more about it. The casting process is currently underway, and the plan is to start filming this summer.