Eternal Beauty director Craig Roberts is set to take the helm of a horror comedy called The Scurry, working from a screenplay by The Mash Report’s Tim Telling, and Deadline reports that Olivia Cooke of Bates Motel, House of the Dragon, and Ouija and Rhys Ifans of Notting Hill, The Amazing Spider-Man, and also House of the Dragon have signed on to star in the film. Paapa Essiedu (The Lazarus Project), Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex), and Antonia Thomas (The Good Doctor) are also in the cast.

The story of The Scurry follows two pest controllers who are called to an eco-café in a country park to investigate what begins as a routine vermin problem but as nightfall approaches an avalanche of deranged squirrels descend, wreaking revenge and mayhem on the staff and visitors in the park. With many fatalities, the survivors take shelter in the café as a freak storm takes out the power and communications leaving them isolated and under attack. An eclectic mix of survivors include pest controllers, a sulky teenager, hypocritical vegans, and a drug dealer – there is only an outside chance of survival.

The project has a budget of just under $13 million and is set to start filming at Dragon Studios in South Wales on April 2nd. It’s coming our way from Water & Power Productions, Cliff Edge Pictures, and Circus Studios, with True Brit Entertainment on board as co-producer and UK distributor. James Swarbrick is producing for Water & Power while Adrian Bate does the same for Cliff Edge. Executive producers include Tom Miller and Sam Myer of Water & Power, Craig Roberts of Cliff Edge, Zygi Kamasa of True Brit, and James Spring and James Scott of Circus Studios.

Swarbrick provided the following statement: “It’s great to be back in business with the legend that is Craig Roberts, from his visual flair and skill with the camera meant that the moment we read Tim’s incredible script there was only one man for the job. Craig brings a humour and wit to his work, which is ideally suited to a horrifying rodent apocalypse.“

Bate added: “You may want to think twice about sitting in your garden or visiting your local park after seeing this movie. Through Craig Roberts’ unique directorial prism and with our stellar cast, we’ll witness the forest sending in their fur clad foot soldiers to avenge their mistreatment. It’s time for nature to bite back.“

Kamasa had this to say: “It’s rare to find a commercial, scary, and funny British genre film with such a terrific cast that the filmmakers want to build as a potential British franchise. Craig Roberts is enormously talented, and he and I share a love of legendary genre films like Shaun of the Dead or Gremlins. The ambition to make something similar is hugely exciting.“

And Scott had this to say: “The Scurry has an internationally recognizable cast and a universally resonant story of local vermin rising up to take control – something that city dwellers the world over know hovers over us as a possibility at every moment. We’re confident that it will land with audiences globally and give people a newfound phobia.“

For his part, Roberts simply said, “I’m really happy that somebody has employed me again.“

Does The Scurry sound interesting to you? Let us know by leaving a comment below. I was sold on this first one as soon as I saw it was going to be a horror comedy about deranged squirrels.

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