Hunter Schafer’s feature film debut has added two new stars to its cast: Dan Stevens and Jessica Henwick. Cuckoo, an upcoming horror film from Neon, will mark Euphoria star Schafer’s first time on the big screen. Henwick and Stevens join an ensemble which already includes Gemma Chan, Sofia Boutella, Marton Csókás of Freelance, Greta Fernández of Santo, and Jan Bluthardt.
Tilman Singer, the writer and director behind 2018’s fascinatingly confusing yet sharp Luz, is helming the project. Although plot details remain under lock and key, Deadline reports that the movie, which is in post-production and was shot in Germany on 35mm film, will premiere in theaters sometime in 2023.
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Cuckoo joins an exciting list of upcoming projects for both Stevens and Henwick. Stevens was just cast as the lead in Adam Wingard’s upcoming Godzilla v. Kong sequel, and Henwick has a role in the Ryan Gosling-Chris Evans colossus The Gray Man, which hits Netflix on July 15. She’s also set to star in another Neon pic, The Royal Hotel, opposite Julia Gardner. Plus, like everyone who is anyone on Planet Hollywood, Henwick nabbed a role in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out sequel Glass Onion.
Alongside the casting announcement, Neon also shared a first-look image of Schafer in Cuckoo. The evocative shot shows Schafer’s character with a bandaged head and arm in a sling, fearfully hiding behind a shelf from a blurry yet menacing figure in the background.
The scenery seems to suggest the film is set in a hospital or rehab facility of some sorts, although in todays world of teasers-for-main-teasers and red-herring marketing, it’s impossible to be certain. Regardless of the setting, Schafer flexing her scream queen muscles alongside Sir Matthew Crawley and Nymeria Sand feels like more than enough reason to rejoice.
