EXCLUSIVE: Garret Dillahunt (Where the Crawdads Sing), Elizabeth Mitchell (The Purge: Election Year), Shawn Ashmore (ABC’s The Rookie) and Jessy Schram (Unstoppable) have been tapped to star in The Hunstman, a psychological thriller from director Kyle Kauwika Harris (Out of Exile) that’s going into production in Oklahoma next month.
An adaptation of Judith Sanders’s novel scripted by Steven Jon Whritner, the film centers on a repressed ICU nurse (Ashmore) volunteering as a reader for a recovering coma patient (Dillahunt), the prime suspect in the savage murders of six young women in a small southwestern town. The suspect’s wife (Mitchell), refusing to believe that her husband is the killer, struggles with the mounting complexities of the investigation. With a dedicated detective (Schram) trying to solve the mystery before more bodies turn up, numerous other suspects take the case on a spiraling journey.
Pic is fully financed by Frank Malinoski and produced by Plymouth Rock Entertainment’s Whritner (Jury Duty, Repo Men: Stealing for a Living) and SafeHouse Films’ Jacob Ryan Snovel (Agnes, upcoming Reverence), alongside Nicholas Clement (Out of Exile, upcoming Reverence) and Maddison Bullock (Ice: The Movie, upcoming Anywhere). The film is executive produced by Dillahunt, Sanders, and Malinoski.
Mark Rutman (Snowfall, Nashville) handled casting, with Jesse M. Bookout of Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell serving as production counsel.
“I’m excited to start shooting this dark and atmospheric story,” Harris said. “We live in a world where outward appearances are oftentimes deceiving, and one of the many intriguing aspects about this project was how the script addresses inner and outer identity, and the reasons why someone would be driven to kill, I’m drawn to material that takes the audience to the narrative edge, and with The Huntsman, we have a film that will shake the viewer up.”
“From Sanders’ gripping novel comes an amazing script by Whritner, which, in the hands of our visionary director and a brilliantly talented cast, will come a film that should engage, surprise and thrill the minds and hearts of adult audiences,” added EP Malinoski.
Next to be seen starring in Viggo Mortensen’s Western The Dead Don’t Hurt, Dillahunt’s other recent film credits include Red Right Hand and Where the Crawdads Sing. In recent years, he’s also been seen on shows like Hightown, Dead to Me, and Sprung.
Previously, Mitchell has appeared in series like The Santa Clauses, Outer Banks, The Expanse, Once Upon a Time and Lost, in addition to films like The Purge: Election Year.
Currently starring on ABC’s beloved procedural The Rookie, Ashmore’s other upcoming projects include the indies Just Breathe and It Feeds.
Schram stars on Chicago Med and has also been seen on shows like Nashville and Falling Skies. Additionally, she’s appeared in such films as Shot Caller and Unstoppable.
Known for his Heartland Emmy-winning 2017 documentary I Stand: The Guardians of the Water, which spotlighted the Standing Rock Sioux Nation’s fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Harris made his theatrical debut with the 2022 crime thriller Out of Exile, distributed by Saban Films and Paramount Pictures.
Harris is repped by Independent Artist Group and Mosaic; Dillahunt by IAG and D2 Management; Mitchell by IAG, Link Entertainment, and Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum; Ashmore by Gersh, Artistry Management, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman; and Schram by Industry Entertainment and Jackoway Austen.
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