Production of ‘Unwelcome' wrapped
London October 26th, 2020 — Production has wrapped in London on director Jon Wright’s (Grabbers, Tormented) creature feature Unwelcome, starring Hannah John-Kamen (Brave New World, Ready Player One, Ant-Man and the Wasp) and Douglas Booth (My Salinger Year, Mary Shelley, Loving Vincent) as a couple who escape their urban nightmare to the tranquility of rural Ireland only to discover malevolent, murderous goblins lurking in the gnarled, ancient wood at the foot of their new garden. Additional cast include Golden Globe nominee Colm Meaney (The Banker, Seberg, Tolkien), Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls), Chris Walley (The Young Offenders) and Kristian Nairn (Game of Thrones). A modern horror creature feature, The Little People shows us just how far we will go to protect those we love. Described by Wright as “Gremlins meets Straw Dogs” the film is based on an original screenplay by Mark Stay (Robot Overlords) and Jon Wright.
Warner Bros. has acquired the UK rights and is planning to release the film in 2021. Cornerstone Films is handling worldwide sales and distribution and negotiated the deal with Warner Bros. on behalf of the filmmakers.
Unweclome is funded by Ingenious Media and is produced by Piers Tempest and Jo Bamford’s Tempo Productiosn (Military Wives, The Wife, Grabbers) and Peter Touche (Unhinged, Military Wives, Blinded by the Light) as a Tempo Production in association with Automatik VFX. Tempo’s Jo Bamford, Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder of Cornerstone Films and Janine Modder, who has worked on the Bond franchise since 1997, are executive producing. Further executive producers include Matt Williams, Jamie Jessop, Andrea Scarso, Michael Reuter, Seb Barker and Doris Pfardrescher.
The film has also reunited the Grabbers creature team; including prosthetics by Shaune Harrison who has worked on some of the world’s highest grossing blockbusters including the Harry Potter films, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace and Avengers: Age of Ultron along with creature designs by Paul Catling (Maleficent, Thor, Fantastic Beasts) and long time Wright collaborator VFX supervisor Paddy Eason (28 Weeks Later, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban).
Hannah John-Kamen commented; “I’m thrilled to be working with Jon and such a talented cast and crew. It’s such an exciting project, with all the different creative people involved both in-front of and behind the camera, and to have the support of Warner Bros is amazing. It was such fun to film and I feel very lucky to be involved.”
Douglas Booth said; “It has been great working with Jon and Hannah and the rest of the extremely talented cast and crew on ‘Unwelcome’. Piers Tempest has pulled together a world class production team and it is a joy to see this world come to life. Immense gratitude towards Warner Bros for their support in bringing this film to an audience.”
“Unwelcomeis a very modern horror film, with plenty of scares and gore but also an interesting psychological dimension. I’m looking forward to getting this out to the widest possible audience and hearing their thoughts about it!” said Jon Wright.
Piers Tempest also noted; “Especially happy to complete photography given the extremely challenging wider production environment. A very big thank you from Jo and I to Jon, Hannah, Douglas and all our cast and crew for doing such a great job and our partners at Ingenious, Warner Bros, Cornerstone, Automatik and Wellgo USA for being so supportive during the production process.”
Hannah John-Kamen most recently starred in The Stranger on Netflix and Brave New World on Peacock/SKY One. Her recent feature credits are: Marvel’s Ant-Man And The Wasp, Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, Tomb Raider, J. J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode Vii – The Force Awakens and other notable screen credits include: Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, Game Of Thrones, Happy Valley and Misfits. She was recently announced as playing ‘Jill Valentine’ in Constantin Film’s reboot of the classic horror franchise Resident Evil.
Douglas Booth most recently starred as Mötley Crüe’s bassist Nikki Sixx in the hit Netflix film, The Dirt, and is also well known for his additional film credits including; Carlo Carlei’s Romeo And Juliet, Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, Lone Scherfig’s The Riot Club, the Wachowskis’ Jupiter Ascending, Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, The Limehouse Golem, Mary Shelley, and the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice and BAFTA-nominated Loving Vincent. Douglas will next be seen in My Salinger Year and in a supporting role in Terrence Malick’s upcoming The Last Planet.
John-Kamen is represented by Scott Marshall Partners, Paradigm and manager Luber Roklin. Booth is represented by Curtis Brown Group, UTA and Sherpa Talent, Walley by B-Side Management, Nairn by APA and the Coalition Agency, Meaney by ICM, Liebman Entertainment and 42, and O’Donnell by The Artists Partnership, The Gersh Agency and Grandview.
