Golden Globe winner Hugh Grant is in talks to star in “Heretic,” a new horror film from A24. It’s a project written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods (“A Quiet Place“). While plot details for “Heretic” are still under wraps, it is currently rumored to revolve around two young religious women that are lured into a game of cat-and-mouse. This terrifying ordeal is said to take place inside the home of an eccentric man.
While Grant is mostly known for his romantic comedies, in recent years he has been fighting that typecasting and showing his range. Most recently he played the rogue villain Forge in the fantasy film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.” In 2020, he starred in the HBO limited series “The Undoing,” a tense psychological thriller that put a modern twist on a classical “whodunnit.”
In 2018 he lead Prime Video’s “A Very English Scandal,” where he portrayed Jeremy Thorpe. Thorpe was a real-life member of the UK Parliament, who stood trial for a conspiracy and incitement to murder his ex-boyfriend. Though this wouldn’t be Grant’s first foray into the horror genre, since he did star in Ken Russell’s 1988 horror comedy “The Lair of the White Worm.”
The co-directors/writers Beck and Woods are the same duo that wrote the John Krasinski-directed “A Quite Place,” and “A Quite Place 2.” They wrote and directed the break-out horror hit, “Haunt.” They also wrote, directed, and produced Sony’s sci-fi action thriller “65.” But most recently the pair executive produced and helped write 20th Century’s Stephen King adaptation “The Boogeyman.” Which is currently doing well in theaters.
So clearly Beck and Woods understand the horror genre. Not to mention A24 is known for its elevated horror films. [That term is not being used in the pejorative here. All horror is welcome.] Realistically, Grant should be in good hands if he decides to dive back into the genre with “Heretic.”
We’ll keep you posted on updates about the “Heretic” as they become available.
