The Hole in the Ground acquired by multiple distributors, including A24

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The Hole in the Ground Lee Cronin

Director Lee Cronin's feature debut THE HOLE IN THE GROUND won't even be making its world premiere until the Sundance Film Festival next month, but it has already secured distribution in multiple territories around the globe. The North American rights have gone to A24 and DirecTV, while deals have also been closed with Vertigo Releasing in the UK, Wildcard Distribution in Ireland, Festival Films in Spain, Weltkino in Germany and Austria, Koch Media in Italy, Huashi TV in China, Neo Films in Greece, Pictureworks in India, Presidio in Japan, M2 Film in Poland, Exponenta in Russia, The Shaw Company in Singapore, Scene & Sound in South Korea, Praesens in Switzerland, DeepJoy in Taiwan, Latin America's Cinepolis, the Baltic States' Latvian Theatrical Distribution, Front Row in the Middle East, Siyah Beyaz in Turkey, Captive Entertainment in the Philippines, Fox Networks Group for Pay TV in S.E. Asia, and Sahamongkol in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Very impressive for a film that hasn't been seen by an audience yet.

Theatrical releases are being planned for North America and the UK in March of 2019. In North America, the film will be available on pay-per-view through DirecTV for a limited time before A24 takes it theatrical.

Seána Kerslake stars in THE HOLE IN THE GROUND as 

Sarah, a mother who moves with her young son Chris (James Quinn Markey) to a country home on the edge of a forest, which happens to hide an enormous sinkhole. Her boy vanishes and soon reappears unharmed, though his behavior grows increasingly disturbing, leaving his mother to fear the worst — that the boy in her home isn’t her son at all.

Sounds like Sarah has a changeling in her house! That's a concept that always brings the creepiness.

Cronin wrote the screenplay with Stephen Shields. A24 says the finished film weaves

suspense, terror, and supernatural folklore into a richly evocative story about the primal fears of motherhood."

Tim Gibson, vice president of video and application marketing at DirecTV's owner AT&T, adds that THE HOLE IN THE GROUND 

tests audiences’ fears, self-restraint and willpower."

A Savage Productions presentation, THE HOLE IN THE GROUND was produced by John Keville and Conor Barry, with Benoit Roland and Ulla Simonen co-producing and Lesley McKimm, Macdara Kelleher, Patrick O'Neill, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Stephen Kelliher, Hilary Davis, Tim Hegarty, and Tara Finegan executive producing. Companies and organizations involved include Screen Ireland, Bankside Films, Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Wallimages, Voo & BETV, The Finnish Film Foundation, Wrong Men, and Made.
 

Source: Screen International, Variety

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.