EXCLUSIVE: Bleecker Street‘s survival horror thriller The Origin, which debuted recently at Fantastic Fest, is getting a title change, now known as Out of Darkness and will hit theaters on February 9.
Directed by Scottish helmer Andrew Cumming (Radiance, Clique) and written by Ruth Greenberg (The Spark) in both of their feature debuts, Out of Darkness follows a group of six who have struggled across the narrow sea to find a new home. They are starving, desperate, and living 45,000 years ago. First they must find shelter, and they strike out across the tundra wastes towards the distant mountains that promise the abundant caves they need to survive. But when night falls, anticipation turns to fear and doubt as they realize they are not alone. As relationships in the group fracture, the determination of one young woman reveals the terrible actions taken to survive. The movie was shot on location in the Scottish Highlands with the use of a bespoke language called Tola, which was developed specifically for the project by a linguist and an archaeologist.
Out of Darkness scored five British Independent Film Awards this past year with a breakthrough performance for Safia Oakley-Green.
Pic was produced by Oliver Kassman (Saint Maude) and also stars Chuku Modu (Captain Marvel), Kit Young (Shadow and Bone), and Iola Evans (Choose or Die).
Two other wide releases are currently dated on Feb. 9: Focus Features’ Lisa Frankenstein and Sony’s Blake Lively-Justin Baldoni movie Colleen Hoover’s It Ends With Us.
Deadline‘s own film critic Damon Wise praised the film for its tremendous world-building, calling the artistic choices “bold” and “incredibly visual” as the craft “lends itself to a richer and more immersive experience in a big, dark cinema.” He goes on to describe the film as “a cautionary tale as old as time — or as the preternaturally wise Odal puts it, “The danger in bringing light to a dark place is that you might find out what lives in the darkness.”
Bleecker’s upcoming slate includes: Meg Ryan’s return to romantic comedies, What Happens Later ,in which she stars with David Duchovny releasing Nov. 3, and Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s sci-fi thriller, I.S.S. starring Ariana DeBose. The company is also prepping the feel-good comedy The Fabulous Four from acclaimed filmmaker Jocelyn Moorhouse, starring Bette Midler and Susan Sarandon. In addition, there’s The Return, based on Homer’s ancient classic The Odyssey and directed by Academy Award nominee Uberto Pasolini and starring Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche, as well as the next film from legendary auteur Mike Leigh are in post-production.