Sunflower: Scott Speedman terrorizes Jurnee Smollett and Isabel May in farmhouse thriller

Scott Speedman of The Strangers and Underworld has joined Jurnee Smollett (Birds of Prey) and Isabel May of the Yellowstone prequel series 1883 in the thriller Sunflower – and according to The Hollywood Reporter, Speedman will be playing the villain in the film!

Sunflower will mark the feature directorial debut of writer Misha Green. She and Smollett previously worked together on the TV shows Underground and Lovecraft Country. Green created Underground with Joe Pokaski and developed Lovecraft Country from the Matt Ruff novel. Her first directing credit was on an episode of Lovecraft Country.

After spending more than a decade in development hell, Sunflower is finally moving forward at Lionsgate. The screenplay Green wrote for the film was so highly regarded that it was on the Black List back in 2008. The story follows two young women who are held hostage in a prison-like farmhouse by a deranged college professor. As they struggle to survive, they’re forced to face the possibility of fighting each other for their lives.

The film is scheduled to go into production in South Africa in the spring of 2024. Smollett and May will be playing the women who are held hostage, while Speedman takes on the role of the deranged college professor.

Back in 2012, Ben Stiller and Stuart Cornfeld were going to produce Sunflower for 20th Century Fox, with Adam Blaiklock (Caught Inside) on board to direct. The current iteration of the project is being produced by Green and Craig J. Flores of Bread and Circuses Entertainment. Meredith Wieck and Aaron Edmonds are overseeing Lionsgate.

Green provided Deadline with the following statement: “Sunflower was the first script I sold when I landed in Hollywood, and now having the opportunity to make it my first feature directorial outing feels like kismet. I couldn’t have hoped for better partners and collaborators than Nathan Kahane, the Lionsgate team, Craig, and Jurnee to help me shepherd it to the big screen.“

Lionsgate’s Nathan Kahane added: “Everyone at our studio was completely drawn in by the way Misha, Jurnee, and the Lovecraft Country team worked so confidently to create a compelling genre series – then subverted the genre and reinvented it through a new lens. That’s the opportunity with Sunflower. The screenplay is unique, thrilling, and flat-out scary. It’s going to make a hell of a movie.“

Does Sunflower sound interesting to you? What do you think of Scott Speedman being cast as the villain? Let us know by leaving a comment below.