Orion Pictures has just acquired the rights to a pitch for a new horror film from comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and Mike Ketley’s Stolen Picture production banner, according to Deadline.
The film, titled Svalta, will follow a family on their summer vacation to a remote Swedish island, the fictional Svalta. They discover a serial killer is on the loose, but the locals have no interest in helping the stranded family of tourists.
Pegg and Frost famously often work together, and starred opposite each other in Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, all of which were written by Pegg and director Edgar Wright, as well as cult TV series Spaced, which was created by Pegg and Jessica Hynes. Pegg and Frost also co-wrote and starred in 2011 sci-fi road trip comedy film Paul.
Pegg, Frost and Ketley will produce, and Frost is set to write the screenplay with Stolen Picture creative directors James Serafinowicz and Nat Saunders, and Dan Kagan overseeing the project on behalf of Orion.
“We are unbelievably excited to be partnering with Simon, Nick and Miles on Svalta,” said Hegeman. “The story is scary, awesome and crazy, and their unique voice is perfect for this movie. We can’t wait to bring this to the big screen with them.”
“Orion is the perfect home for the horrifying vision that Nick has conjured up from his maverick brain,” added Ketley. “We always said that everything we do has to come from left field and find something unexpected at its centre and with this partnership with John and Dan and their amazing team — Svalta is the perfect project to do that.”
Svalta doesn’t yet have a release date. Get all the latest horror news with every issue of SciFiNow.