Three months ago, it was announced that Lola Tung (The Summer I Turned Pretty) and Nico Parker (How to Train Your Dragon) were set to star in The Young People, the latest horror film from Longlegs and Keeper director Osgood Perkins. Production is now underway, and when another batch of cast members – Tatiana Maslany (The Monkey), Heather Graham (Suitable Flesh), Johnny Knoxville (Jackass), Lexi Minetree (The Paramedic Who Stalked Me), Lily Collias (Good One), Brendan Hines (Lie to Me), and Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife) – were announced two weeks ago, we thought we had seen the end of The Young People casting news… but they were holding one back. And it’s a major one. Best Actress Oscar winner (for The Hours) Nicole Kidman is also in the cast!
Details on the role Kidman will be playing have not been revealed. In fact, we don’t know who anyone’s playing. This project is being kept tightly under wraps.
Perkins is directing The Young People from his own script. When filming began, an image of the script shared online, and a glimpse of the top line of page 76 indicates that Perkins is entering Lovecraftian territory with this film, because there’s a reference to “The Old Ones.”
That’s all we have to go on, because the plot for The Young People is being kept secret.
Earlier this year, Perkins and his producing partner Chris Ferguson launched their production banner Phobos with backing from Neon, signing a first-look deal with the company. Deadline reported that, “under the first-look deal, Neon will house films that Perkins writes and directs, as well as those he produces for other filmmakers. Neon will release the features theatrically in the U.S. and represent the international rights. Perkins will continue to work with producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones of Range.” The Young People is part that deal. Neon is co-financing the picture with Lyrical Media, with Perkins producing alongside Chris Ferguson and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones.
Perkins made his feature directorial debut with The Blackcoat’s Daughter in 2015 and got his second film, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, out into the world just one year later. There was a four year wait for his third film, Gretel & Hansel, and another four year wait for his fourth, Longlegs. Then he switched into maximum overdrive. The Monkey reached theatres just seven months after Longlegs, Keeper is being released this Friday, and, as mentioned, The Young People is already filming.
What do you think of Nicole Kidman teaming up with Osgood Perkins for The Young People? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
