Cornerstone has acquired international sales rights to James Ashcroft’s upcoming horror feature “When Darkness Loves Us” and will handle sales and distribution, excluding New Zealand and Australia, on behalf of Bleecker Street. The film is set to be launched to buyers at the upcoming Cannes Film Market.
Starring Emilia Clarke (“Game of Thrones,” “Me Before You”), Marlon Williams (“Sweet Tooth,” “The Twelve”), Victoria Pedretti (“You,” The Haunting of Bly Manor”), and Natascha McElhone (“The Truman Show,” “The Crown”), the film recently wrapped photography in New Zealand. Bleecker Street has a U.S. release planned for 2027.
Based on Elizabeth Engstrom’s cult 1980s novella of the same name, “When Darkness Loves Us” is described as a “visually striking and psychologically charged horror story.” The story follows a young woman (Clarke) who, after surviving 15 years trapped in an underground cave system, returns to the surface to reclaim the family she believes is hers, no matter the monstrous cost.
Ashcroft (“The Rule of Jenny Pen,” upcoming Netflix thriller “The Whisper Man”) co-wrote the screenplay with Hayley Sproull and Eli Kent. The film is produced by Desray Armstrong (“Coming Home in the Dark,” “Bad Behaviour”). Executive producers include Ant Timpson, Ashcroft, Clarke, Katherine Bridle, Bleecker Street’s Kent Sanderson and Tyler DiNapoli, and Umbrella Entertainment’s Ari Harrison and Jasmin McSweeney. Nicola Smith and Bleecker Street’s Miranda King serve as associate producers.
The project is financed by the New Zealand Film Commission, Images & Sound, and the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate, with financing cash flowed by Hinterland and Natixis Coficiné. Umbrella Entertainment will distribute the film in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with our friends at Bleecker on James Ashcroft’s bold vision that elevates the genre, and with Emilia Clarke leading an exceptional cast, we believe this film will strongly resonate with international audiences,” said Cornerstone’s Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder.
