Adding to its impressive collection of teenage horror, in July, Netflix acquired the global rights to CURS>R, a horror-thriller starring Asa Butterfield, Iola Evans, and Eddie Marsan. The film is a dark twist on the 80’s gaming obsession and follows Kayla (played by Iola Evans) who gets trapped in a game and forced to play for her life.
The movie is directed by Toby Meakins who directed such films as Breathe and Floor 9.5. The script for CURS>R was written by Simon Allen (The Watch, Das Boot, The Musketeers) with additional script development by Meakins and Matthew James Wilkinson.
Toby Meakins, Simon Allen and Matthew James Wilkinson
Anton’s Sebastien Raybaud and John Zois, alongside Stigma Films’ Matthew James Wilkinson (Yesterday, Days of the Bagnold Summer) are the producers with Allen, Meakins and Wilkinson also acting as the co-creators. Allen, Liza Glucoft and Nick Angel are executive producers. Holly Hubsher oversaw the project on behalf of Anton.
It’s worth mentioning that there was a Quibi gaming title called CURS_R in development back in December 2019.
Anton’s John Zois stated in a press release:
“Toby is a visionary in the horror space with an innate genius for both original storytelling and the stark, eerie palates he creates on screen. Simon, Toby and Matt have worked to create something uniquely thrilling for horror fans.”
Stigma Films’ Matthew James Wilkinson added:
“Incredibly excited to be working on such an original and terrifying concept as CURS>R – taking modern horror and twisting it to pit our hero against 80s nostalgia! Simon, Toby and I have enjoyed working with Anton to bring this idea to the screen.”
Here’s everything else we know about Netflix’s CURS>R:
What’s the plot of CURS>R?
According to Deadline, the movie will follow a broke college dropout Kayla who decides to play an obscure, 1980s survival computer game in pursuit of an unclaimed $125,000 prize. But the game curses her, and she is faced with dangerous choices and reality-wrapping challenges. After a series of unexpectedly terrifying moments, she realizes she’s no longer playing for the money, but for her life. The game locks her into an inescapable cycle of mind-bending horror. Stopping is not an option. Its play or die.
Who is cast in CURS>R?
Iola Evans, known for her performance in The 100 plays the lead role of Kayla, the college dropout who gets cursed by the game. Other lead cast include Asa Butterfield (Sex Education). Eddie Marsan (The World’s End, Wrath of Man, Hobbs & Shaw) as well as Freddie Kruger himself: Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street).
Marsan expressed his excitement for the project in a recent tweet:
I was sent this script, written by Simon Allen, and it just blew me away, it was horrifying. The director @tobymeakins is a real visionary, I think this is going to be something special . https://t.co/8T1JTrtEVE
— Eddie Marsan (@eddiemarsan) June 8, 2021
Supporting cast includes Kate Fleetwood (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), Ryan Gage (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies), Angela Griffin (Last Chance Harvey) and Joe Bolland (The Trial of Christine Keeler)
What’s the production status of CURS>R?
Filming was mostly done in the UK. It started on March 22, 2021 wrapped on May 1, 2021 and the project is currently in post-production. Here are some behind-the-scenes pictures from Toby Meakins’ Instagram:
What’s the release date for CURS>R?
No release date information has been released so far but we can most likely look at an end 2021 or early 2022 release date.