By Variety | Created at 2024-11-26 17:20:29 | Updated at 2024-11-28 12:36:14
1 day ago
Milly Shapiro (“Hereditary”) and Shannyn Sossamon (“A Knight’s Tale”) will star together in “The Hallowarrior,” Ben Sottak’s upcoming post-apocalyptic horror-thriller with a Halloween twist.
Production has just wrapped on the feature in Syracuse, N.Y., with the filmmakers releasing a first look still of a bloodied, Halloween jumper-wearing Shapiro (above).
“The Hallowarrior” follows Pumpkin (Shapiro), the last girl on earth and sole survivor of a humanity-ending plague, scavenging the wasteland for supplies on the eve of Halloween. Pumpkin’s lonely holiday ritual is interrupted by the arrival of a savage gang of raiders at her doorstep, led by the fearsome Thalia (Sossamon). Outnumbered and armed with candy, wit and weapons, Pumpkin must ferociously fight back to survive the night.
Based on his standout proof of concept short “Scavenger,” debut filmmaker Sottak wrote and directed the film. Sottak’s latest short, “Martillo” (co-directed with Alejandra Parody), premiered in August at Fantasia and went on to win the Home Invasion Award at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.
“This is a throwback to the crowd-pleasing genre films I grew up watching every Halloween,” Sottak said. “The movie is dripping with nostalgic fall atmosphere, cheer-inducing kills and a lovable ‘final girl’ played by the brilliant Milly Shapiro. I can’t wait for this movie to enter horror fans’ annual October viewing rotation for years to come.”
Sossamon — whose credits include “The Holiday,” “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” “40 Days and 40 Nights,” “One Missed Call” and “Sinister 2” — also exec produces. Ajani Russell (HBO Max’s “Betty”) and AJ Bowen (“The Sacrament,” “You’re Next”) round out the cast.
The movie is produced by Emmajane Hoffman alongside Sottak, launching their new production company Strange Aeons, and Gabriel Rosenstein (“A Nightmare Wakes”) for The Spitting Image. Also producing are Danielle Benedict (“Hell Is Empty”) and Jake Casey (“Monsterland”) for The Dazey Phase. Cinetic’s Alec Ring is executive producing.
Cinetic is handling North American rights, while Architect has pre-sold the movie and is handling international sales.
Sottak is represented by Cinetic Media and Sloss Eckhouse Dasti Haynes. Shapiro is repped by Artists & Representatives and Thruline Entertainment. Sossamon is repped by Buchwald and MPE. Russell is repped by Buchwald.
