Filmmaker Mark Romanek hasn’t made a film in over a decade, but he’s finally returning to the silver screen to direct Mother Land, a horror movie in the works at Lionsgate and 21 Laps. Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen are producing, and the script has been written by Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby.
The film focuses on a family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years. But their safety and surroundings come into question when one of the children questions if the evil is real.
Romanek’s last film was 2010’s Never Let Me Go, and prior to that he helmed 2002’s thriller One Hour Photo. However, he’s kept busy in the meantime as he’s also a legendary music video director, having won three Grammy Awards for Best Music Video – more than anyone else.
Since Never Let Me Go, he’s directed videos for Taylor Swift‘s “Shake It Off”, Justin Timberlake‘s “Filthy”, and co-directed Jay-Z‘s “The Story Of O.J.” He also previously directed videos for Madonna, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, and No Doubt.
Romanek is known to be very selective with what film projects he chooses. Since 2010, he’s circled various projects but none fully materialised. He was going to direct Benicio Del Toro in The Wolfman but pulled out, and he was also planning to take over from Ron Howard to adapt Dan Brown‘s The Lost Symbol, but Howard eventually returned to helm Inferno, another Brown novel, instead.
“To have Mark Romanek board this project says everything you need to know about the quality of this material and where we are taking it tonally and artistically”, Erin Westerman, President of Production for the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.
Obviously it’s exciting that Romanek looks to be finally moving forward with a project, and it’s especially great that it’s an original film with an intriguing idea at its core. If Mother Land can match the atmosphere of the aforementioned One Hour Photo, Romanek’s time away from cinema will have been worth the wait.
#Peace.Love.MotherLand
