The Swallow: Starry Eyes and Pet Sematary directors take on survival thriller starring Grace Van Dien

After making the little-seen 2009 thriller Absence, the filmmaking duo of Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer went on to make the impressive 2014 horror film Starry Eyes, which led to them getting the chance to direct the 2019 remake of Pet Sematary. That movie didn’t become as popular as the original film, but it did earn over $100 million at the box office. Five years later, Kölsch and Widmyer have finally set up their next feature: the survival thriller The Swallow, which is set to star Grace Van Dien, who had a memorable role in season 4 of Stranger Things.

Kölsch and Widmyer wrote the screenplay for The Swallow, which was previously featured on the Bloodlist, a list assembled through a survey of industry professionals, who recommend their favorite unproduced thriller and horror scripts. Thanks to producers James Harris and Mark Lane of Tea Shop Productions, John Finemore of Lost City, Adam Goldworm of Aperture Entertainment, and Josh Goldbloom, The Swallow will be heading into production soon. In fact, they’re aiming to get rolling on this one in the summer. Architect is also involved with the project. The company previously worked (as executive producers) with Tea Shop on the survival thriller The Bayou, which was financed by their sister company Creativity Capital.

The story of The Swallow centers on a group of teens who are abandoned in a deadly forest. Van Dien is taking on the role of Ziggy, who, along with her four friends, journeys out on a camping trip to a picturesque remote forest. But trespassing into an off-limits area, they awaken an uncanny terror in the woods… and a ravenous hunger from within the Earth. Soon, the ground itself is trying to swallow anything and anyone it comes into contact with and Ziggy and her friends have nowhere to run as every trembling step they take could be their last.

Kölsch and Widmyer are producing the film alongside the producers mentioned above. James Hoppe of Lost City serves as an executive producer.

Kölsch and Widmyer provided Deadline with the following statement: “The Swallow is a lean, mean horror film that never lets its foot off the gas. Essentially, one extended set piece of tension and primal horror that just keeps ratcheting up. Daring audiences to endure it until the end.“

Architect’s Calum Gray added: “The Swallow is everything we want in an Architect movie: a gloriously entertaining, escapist rollercoaster with a strong high concept and super clear audience: this is a breathless and ingenious survival thriller with which to completely envelop contemporary global cinemagoers. We are furthermore blessed to have a cutting edge team of outstanding genre creatives shepherding this film into the light and just as per The Bayou, we can’t wait to partner up once again with Tea Shop.“

How does The Swallow sound to you? Are you looking forward to the next Kölsch and Widmyer movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.