Following a competitive bidding war against six bidders including MGM and Miramax, Deadline brings word that Netflix has successfully won the rights to director Lee Daniels’ upcoming exorcism thriller film, which already has a star-studded cast attached to it. The outlet’s sources note that the acquisition deal has cost the streamer around $65 million.
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The untitled project is inspired by the 2011 Ammons haunting case or also known as Demon House, which gained national attention during the time. It was about Latoya Ammons and her three children who experienced supernatural incidents in their home in Indiana, which gradually progress from strange to violent occurrences.
It will be led by Golden Globe winner Andra Day, who is reuniting with Daniels after last year’s acclaimed biographical drama The United States vs. Billie Holiday. Day is set to portray the role of the mother of an Indiana family whose children purportedly became demonically possessed.
Joining her are Emmy and Golden Globe winner Glenn Close (The Wife) as the mother to Day’s character, Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (Ma) as a clergy member, Rob Morgan (Don’t Look Up) as the boyfriend to Day’s character, Caleb McLaughlin (Stranger Things) as the son of Day’s character, and Aunjanue Ellis (Lovecraft Country).
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The exorcism film will be directed by Daniels from a screenplay he is co-writing with David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum. It will be produced by Tucker Tooley and Pam Williams along with Todd Crites and Jackson Nguyen of Turn Left Productions. Executive producers are Greg Renker and Gregoire Gensollen.
Production is expected to begin in the middle of 2022.
