The stars of horror hits “Late Night With the Devil” and “Barbarian” are uniting to take another potentially hair-raising step into the genre world.
“The Shepherd” is set to team David Dastmalchian (“Oppenheimer,” “The Dark Knight,” “Dune”) and Georgina Campbell (“The Watchers,” “Black Mirror”). The horror-thriller comes from Spooky Pictures — Image Nation (also behind “Late Night With the Devil”), with Anton launching sales in Cannes.
The film is being directed by John Hyams (“Sick,” “Alone,” HBO’s documentary “The Smashing Machine”) and written by Alexander Gustaveson. Anton is handling worldwide rights and co-repping North American rights with UTA Independent Film Group and Cinetic.
Set in the desolate Nevada night, “The Shepherd” follows a young woman in labor fleeing an abusive past who has her escape hijacked by a mysterious stranger hiding an ominous threat in the back of her car.
Reuniting the producers behind the box-office hit “Late Night with the Devil,” “The Shepherd” is produced under the Spooky Pictures – Image Nation partnership with Steven Schneider (“Paranormal Activity,”” Insidious,” “Split”) and Roy Lee (“It” franchise, “Barbarian,” “A Minecraft Movie”) for Spooky Pictures (“Strange Darling,” Chloe Okuno’s “Watcher”); Ben Cornwell, Jordan Foley and Nick Smith for Paperclip Ltd. (“Alone,” “Snack Shack”) along with Jonathan Rosenthal (“Alone,” “The Abandon”); and Sébastien Raybaud (“Fuze,” “Greenland: Migration,” “Greenland,” “The Night House”) for Anton. The film is executive produced by Dastmalchian under his Good Fiend Films banner, Campbell, Ben Ross and Derek Dauchy for Image Nation, Rami Yasin for Spooky Pictures, and Yeardley Smith for Paperclip Ltd.
Anton and Image Nation are financing the film, with production set to start on “The Shepherd” in the fall, 2025.
“Once I turned the first few pages of ‘The Shepherd’ I was hooked,” said Dastmalchian. “I immediately wanted to see this high-octane, horrifying world brought to life and John is the perfect person to make it happen. After collaborating with Roy and Steven on ‘Late Night with the Devil,’ I have been looking forward to getting back in the sandbox with them and I can’t wait to bring the genre force of Good Fiend Films into the equation.”
“Following the success of ‘Late Night with the Devil,’ we’re excited to be working with David Dastmalchian once again on ‘The Shepherd,’” added Image Nation CEO Ben Ross. “David brings a distinctive energy and depth to every project he’s part of, and this film marks another strong collaboration in our ongoing partnership with Spooky Pictures.”
“The Shepherd” is part of a slate of upcoming projects from Spooky Pictures and Image Nation including Charlie Polinger’s “The Plague” starring Joel Edgerton, which will premiere in Cannes’ prestigious Un Certain Regard competition, Randall Okita’s “Menace” starring Isabel May, and Damian McCarthy’s “Hokum” starring Adam Scott.
Dastmalchian is repped by Atlas Artists. Campbell is repped by UTA, Entertainment 360, Independent Talent Group and Felker Toczek Suddleson McGinnis Ryan LLC.
