The Crow director Alex Proyas has announced his upcoming horror-thriller Sister Darkness. The upcoming feature will be the first under a co-production/financing partnership between U.K.-based 108 Media, Proyas’ production house Heretic Foundation and his IP development company Mystery Clock Cinema. It is currently up for sale in the Cannes Market.
The film is described as a "macabre female-driven fever dream of revenge and gothic terror." It takes place in 1930s UK, a time in history when women were marginalized and exploited. Central character Alice happens to cross paths with "her doppelganger Isla, whose existence is a mystery seeped in a tale of bloody retribution against her oppressors, the hellish supernatural nightscape and a dreaded uprising against the deceitful aristocracy.” The feature is being coined as Proyas' return to his independent roots and based on his own original script.
Proyas drew inspiration from UK horror movies from the 1960s and 1970s, including John Hough's 1973 The Legend of Hell House, based on the novel Hell House. Shooting is scheduled for later this year into mid-2023 and will take place in Proyas' native Australia. For filming, they will utilize a complete virtual production process developed and refined by VFX studio Heretic Foundation. Proyas has been at the forefront of this technology since I, Robot and seeks to lower filmmaking costs without sacrificing outcome. In a joint statement with 108 Media, Proyas said:
“We are excited to be embarking with 108 Media on what we genuinely believe will be the first step of a long and fruitful journey together. Sister Darkness will be a milestone in the use of virtual production at this scale, and Heretic’s talented team will allow us to establish production values at much higher levels in this budget range than ever before thought achievable. This is the future of filmmaking.”
The film's estimated budget is set at $35 million.
Proyas Developing Dark City Television Series
Four years after The Crow, Proyas marked his return to the big screen with Dark City, the story of John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell), a man who can not remember whether he has committed murder. Dark City was not a box office success but received favorable reviews and developed a cult following.
During a Popcorn Frights Film Festival conversation with Bloody-Disgusting last year, Proyas revealed that a Dark City series was in development. The series recently made news again when Kiefer Sutherland (who starred as Dark City villain Dr. Daniel P. Schreber) sat down for an interview with GQ and said:
“Dark City, which was directed by Alex Proyas, was one of my most favorite experiences that I’ve ever had, as a person and as an actor. Alex Proyas is a real visionary, he wrote the cartoon version of Dark City when he was 15 years old."
Shortly after, Proyas took to Facebook to express his hopes for Sutherland's participation in the upcoming series and commented that Sutherland "might be back in those shoes."